Retirees Elect New Leadership
Retiree leaders from across the country attended the AFSCME Retirees Council meeting that was held on Sunday and Monday, ushering in exciting new changes while fortifying members’ commitment to fighting for their union.
A new class of officers was elected, and outgoing council officers, including Chair Gary Tavormina, president of New York Chapter 82; Vice-Chair Phyllis Zamarrippa, president of Colorado Chapter 76; and James “Jimmy” Moore, CSEA retiree and president of North Carolina Subchapter 165, were honored.
In addition, four new retiree chapters were welcomed, including Michigan Chapter 255, UDW Retiree Chapter 3930, Southern California Water District Retiree Chapter 1902, and Memphis Retiree Chapter 1733.
Since their last meeting, retiree chapters and leaders have been busy organizing because they know that strength in numbers is the best way to protect current and future retirees’ retirement security. So far this year they’ve signed up 4,325 retiree members.
While protecting retirement security, Social Security and Medicare remained top priorities, the 38th annual meeting also featured some exciting new topics, like how to take advantage of the many easy-to-use online tools available to build their chapter’s online capacity and how to amplify retiree voices online.
Pictured (left to right): Birttnen, Conrad and Mosley.
AFSCME President Lee Saunders and Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride fired up nearly 200 retirees, expressing thanks for their lifetime of engagement with their union and calling on them to keep fighting. With addresses and discussions from AFSCME area experts, attendees also learned about ways to mobilize to elect pro-worker candidates in the 2018 elections, and how to continue to grow in the face of attacks on public service workers.
Retiree leaders chose Jeff Birttnen, Minnesota AFSCME Retiree Chapter 5, as council chair; Sonia Mosley, California AFSCME Chapter 1199-UNAC, as council vice-chair; and Sue Conard, Wisconsin AFSCME Retiree Chapter 32, as council secretary.
The three officers ran on a platform of organizing new retiree members to stay politically active and get educated on the fights to come.
“We thank the outgoing leadership for its service and we are excited about the opportunities for mobilizing the fastest-growing retiree organization in the labor movement to protect and expand retirement security for all Americans,” they said in a joint statement.
The AFSCME Retiree Council is made up of retiree leaders from AFSCME’s 45 retiree chapters who represent AFSCME’s nearly 250,000 retiree members.
AFSCME President Lee Saunders and Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride fired up nearly 200 retirees, expressing thanks for their lifetime of engagement with their union and calling on them to keep fighting. With addresses and discussions from AFSCME area experts, attendees also learned about ways to mobilize to elect pro-worker candidates in the 2018 elections, and how to continue to grow in the face of attacks on public service workers.
Retiree leaders chose Jeff Birttnen, Minnesota AFSCME Retiree Chapter 5, as council chair; Sonia Mosley, California AFSCME Chapter 1199-UNAC, as council vice-chair; and Sue Conard, Wisconsin AFSCME Retiree Chapter 32, as council secretary.