AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler celebrated the vital work AFSCME members do to sustain their communities when she addressed members attending our union’s 47th International Convention in Chicago on Tuesday.
“Every time I see that wave of green, every time someone hears that Green Machine chanting and shouting out, no matter where they are in this country, they know it means something. It means power. They know it means solidarity. They know it means workers standing together,” said Shuler, a stalwart ally who regularly inspires AFSCME members at events and rallies.
She encouraged workers to stay united in the face of big economic challenges and attacks from billionaires, corporations and their political allies.
“This is the single most important moment for our economy in a hundred years. We know what the most powerful people in this country want, don’t we? They want us divided,” Shuler said. “But as they try to turn us against each other, I’ve never seen working people in this country more united. Organizing together. Winning together. The billionaires have their money. Corporations have their lobbyists. We have each other.”
Shuler has been president of the AFL-CIO since 2022, when she was elected by acclamation after the death of Richard Trumka. She was reelected to a five-year term in June and is the first woman to lead the federation of 65 national and international unions that together represent nearly 15 million working people.
She commended AFSCME for growing its membership through robust organizing, giving more workers the opportunity to build power.
“That’s what we’re seeing all over this movement — people waking up to the power of a union,” Shuler said. “We have so much momentum and power right now.”
Shuler praised AFSCME President Lee Saunders and Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride, both of whom are retiring at the end of this Convention. She called Saunders a fierce, resilient fighter for AFSCME members and credited McBride for inspiring women workers.
She also laid out AFL-CIO’s position on artificial intelligence, saying that workers must have a voice in how it is used in the workplace and strong guardrails to protect jobs.
“There is no machine in the world that can replace the skill, the judgment, and the professionalism of an AFSCME worker, and there never will be,” Shuler said.
