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Chapters in Action

AFSCME Retiree Council

In May, AFSCME's national Retiree Council held its 25th annual meeting. Representatives of 37 affiliated retiree chapters met in Washington, D.C., to share information on organizing and benefit issues, get updates on congressional legislation and hear about the union's activities from AFSCME officers and top staff.

Speakers included AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee; Vernon Watkins — executive assistant to Sec.-Treas. William Lucy; Gail Shearer, Director of Health Policy for Consumers Union; AFSCME Legislation Director Chuck Loveless; Kathryn Olson, minority staff director for the House Subcommittee on Social Security; and Associate Dir. Steve Kreisberg of the AFSCME Department of Research and Collective Bargaining Services.

One of the highlights of the annual meeting was the discussion of AFSCME's Committee on the 21st Century — made up of many of the union's leaders from around the country. The committee is currently examining every aspect of AFSCME activity, hoping to make recommendations to the next International Union convention on ways to strengthen AFSCME for the future. Inspired by its work, the Retiree Council recently formed its own 21st Century Committee, which is looking at the future of the AFSCME Retiree Program. The committee — comprising nine presidents of chapters large and small, from various geographic locations — is chaired by Betty Flanagan, president of Philadelphia Chapter 47 and vice-chair of the Retiree Council.

New York City Chapter 37

Nearly 500 members attended Retiree Chapter 37's education conference, held earlier this year at District Council 37 headquarters in New York City. As a sign of the chapter's growing political clout, the crowd was addressed by City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller, Manhattan Borough Pres. C. Virginia Fields, former Bronx Borough Pres. Fernando Ferrer and U.S. Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Anthony Weiner (D-NY). Also on hand were City Comptroller William Thompson, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, State Sen. Diane Savino (D-NY) and City Councilpersons William Perkins and Robert Jackson. The all-day meeting also featured four panels on timely topics of interest: Medicare and Social Security; the current political environment; District Council 37 benefits; and retirement and pensions, moderated by Chapter Pres. Stuart Leibowitz.

Florida/CSEA Retirees

New York/CSEA Chapter 1000's three Florida locals all held annual conventions this spring. Retiree Local 950 met in New Port Richey; Local 951 in West Palm Beach; and Local 952 in Altamonte Springs. Members of all three groups are New York public retirees who have permanently retired to Florida.

All three events featured informative programs on benefit issues, including reports by the New York State Retirement System and United Health Care, as well as the CSEA member-benefits department. Other speakers included Victoria Williams of the Florida Department of Insurance and Tony Fransetta, president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans.

A highlight of the meeting in New Port Richey was the ceremony honoring Pauline Fitchpatrick — a founder of Local 950 and a longtime CSEA retiree activist. She's pictured above as she's presented with CSEA's special service award by CSEA Pres. Danny Donohue.

Nevada Chapter 4041

Chapter 4041 experienced a busy spring, with a legislative battle that put the retirees right in the middle of the state budget process. As the governor confronted a budget crunch and the need to raise revenue, he devised a plan to change several components of the state's employee and retiree health plans, including benefit cuts for one group of retirees and premiums hikes for another group.

Working with representatives of the AFSCME-affiliated State of Nevada Employees Association (SNEA), Chapter 4041's Pres. Roger Maillard and Northern Chapter Dir. Danny Coyle successfully lobbied the legislature to put aside some of the most harmful changes for at least a year. But chapter leaders are concerned that some of the governor's priorities may be re-introduced at a later time.

According to Coyle, much of the credit for staving off the worst of the proposals goes to the grassroots program sponsored by SNEA and Chapter 4041. The program included distribution of workplace flyers, e-mail alerts to members, two rallies and a corps of activists who helped organize support for the union's position.

Chapter 4041's new slate of officers includes Bobbie Redican, director at large; Vice-Pres. Tom Brien; Treas. Charles Muller; Pres. Roger Maillard; Secy. Sandra Hudgens; and Danny Coyle, Northern Chapter Director and Southern Chapter Dir. Jeanne Adams.

HGEA/Hawaii Chapter 152

"Expanding the Quality of Life," was the theme for HGEA/Hawaii Chapter 152's biennial assembly, held in June in Honolulu. In opening the assembly, Pres. Elmer Yuen said, "Many of us are either second, third or fourth generation offspring of immigrants. Whether by canoe, ships or airplanes, our ancestors came to Hawaii for a better life. They set the foundation so we could take charge, to make life better not only for ourselves, but for our children as well."

Nearly 150 delegates and guests heard HGEA Exec. Dir. Russell Okata discuss the current political climate in Hawaii and the challenges facing the union, emphasizing how much he relies on the support of the retiree chapter and its members.

From the AFSCME Retiree Program, the delegates got an update on the union's fight against Social Security privatization, — leading to the delegates' unanimous approval of an anti-privatization resolution. The chapter also held elections, with all the officers re-elected by acclamation.

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