During their Retiree Council meeting at AFSCME’s 46th International Convention in Los Angeles, AFSCME Retirees tackled an ambitious agenda.
They learned about the threat posed by President Donald Trump’s Project 2025, heard from AFSCME President Lee Saunders and Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride, elected Retiree Council officers, strategized ways to preserve Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and good pensions, and committed to electing Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as president and vice president in November.
Saunders thanked them for aggressively advancing our union’s priorities and challenged them to push even harder in the final months before the presidential election.
“I consider retirees our best activists. Whenever we need some help, the first call we make is to our retirees because we know you will run through a wall to fight for our members,” said Saunders. “We continue to win because of the strength of our retirees. You built this union and continue to build this union. If we do what we do best, we will win in November.”
For Pat Riggs, from Oregon AFSCME Retiree Chapter 75, the retiree gathering means one thing: reinvigoration.
“I realize just how big we are as far as retirees, our activism — we vote,” said Riggs, who was a career adviser in Lane County, Oregon. “So I’m going back completely jazzed, understanding that we are not only a force to be reckoned with, but there’s passion. The retiree passion comes from years of active service.”
This is the first convention for Dee Battaglia of Illinois Retiree Chapter 31.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Battaglia, who spent 32 years with the Illinois Department of Corrections. “It has energized me to bring the information back to my subchapter. We need new information and new ideas, and I will take all this back so that we can get more involved in this election.”
Secretary-Treasurer McBride will address retirees on the second day of their meeting.
Retirees also heard from California U.S. Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Judy Chu. They stressed the important role that retirees will play in getting out the vote for a Harris-Walz ticket.
Retirees also elected their leaders. By acclamation, they reelected Jeff Birttnen, Minnesota AFSCME Retiree Chapter 5, as council chair; Sonia Moseley, California AFSCME Chapter 1199-UNAC, as council vice chair; and Sue Conard, Wisconsin AFSCME Retiree Chapter 32, as council secretary.
In addition, retirees participated in several workshops, covering topics like communications best practices, maintaining our union’s financial standards and learning ways to continue expanding our union.
Since launching the AFSCME Retiree Strong program nearly a decade ago, retirees have signed up nearly 100,000 members. In 2024 alone, they have signed up 7,500 new members.
