In honor of the day, Gross traveled to Yonkers for a Retiree Recognition Day celebration hosted by the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, led by Samantha Rosado-Ciriello.
Scores of Long Island retirees celebrated the day by turning out for NYSUT’s Common Ground Over Chaos bus tour which traveled across the island on Monday and Tuesday to support candidates in important congressional and legislative races. As part of the tour, retiree activists rallied for Laura Gillen, candidate for Congressional District 4, while phone banking at NYSUT’s Nassau County regional office.
At a Western New York celebration organized by Janet Goddard, retiree services consultant for RC 1, 2, 3 and 44, attendees phone banked, wrote election postcards and received a proclamation from the Erie County Executive’s office officially celebrating Retiree Recognition Day 2024.
Other celebrations included a breakfast for Albany Public School Teachers Association retirees, hosted by in-service members under the leadership of local president Laura Franz, and a luncheon for East Irondequoit Teachers Association retirees; the EITA is led by Michelle Barrett.
Retiree Recognition Day was established by a resolution passed at the 2023 NYSUT Representative Assembly to acknowledge the many contributions made by the statewide union’s “daytime army” of retiree activists.