Retirees

About the AFSCME Retiree Program

The AFSCME Retiree Program, which began operation in 1980, is an expanding national network of retired public sector workers. In the last ten years, the Program's membership has tripled, growing from 60,000 to more than 230,000 dues-paying retirees in 38 chapters and 250 local sub-chapters.

The Program was established by an amendment to the AFSCME Constitution that created a separate new structure for retiree membership in the union. The AFSCME International Executive Board (IEB) established guidelines for the operation of the Program.

Membership Eligibility

Membership is open to all retired public employees who were members of AFSCME or who were eligible to be members while working. Spouses are also eligible to join and are encouraged to participate in retiree activities.

Structure

Local

AFSCME retiree chapters and sub-chapters are similar to the council and local union structure for working members. As with the local unions, chapters and sub-chapters elect their own officers, set their own priorities and establish their own budgets. They have the same rights of autonomy as any AFSCME affiliate. Model constitutions for AFSCME chapters and sub-chapters have been developed in accordance with the International Union Constitution.

National

Direction at the national level is formulated by the AFSCME Retiree Council. This body, composed of the Presidents of all affiliated retiree chapters (with some additional representation for our largest retiree groups), establishes priorities for the Program. National Program priorities generally can be divided into the following areas: Federal policy and legislation affecting senior citizens; retiree education and training; organizing; and research and action on public retiree issues.

The Retiree Council meets annually and elects it's own Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary. The elected Chair of the Retiree Council also attends the quarterly meetings of AFSCME's IEB. The IEB has a retiree committee, chaired by AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy, which is the vehicle for consideration of any changes proposed by the Retiree Council.

At the 1986 AFSCME Convention, delegates adopted a constitutional amendment that provides each retiree chapter with a voice and a vote at the International's biennial conventions.

Dues

The minimum dues for a chapter member are $15.00 per member per year, with $11.40 remaining on the state and local levels. The International's retiree fee is $3.60 per member per year. Chapters are free to raise their dues above the minimum and many have done so in order to have additional resources for their activities.

Benefits

Members receive an official membership card from the International as well as a subscription to AFSCME's national magazine, the Public Employee, which features a page devoted to retiree issues. Retiree members also receive the Retiree Program's quarterly newsletter, PrimeTime.

AFSCME extends to the retirees any benefit in the AFSCME Advantage program. Currently, these include the MasterCard, low-cost life insurance, discount legal services, and low-interest mortgages, among others. If a working member retires and wants to continue these benefits, the retiree must join an AFSCME Retiree Chapter.

Support from AFSCME Council and Locals

Many AFSCME councils and large unaffiliated locals have actively sponsored the organization and development of retiree chapters. Several provide office space, legislative assistance and general support services to their group. In addition, the retiree chapter members are generally included on the subscription lists for union newspapers, which frequently publicize chapter activities and retiree issues. As a parting gesture of support and appreciation, local unions are urged to pay the first year's dues in the retiree chapter for their retiring members.

Chapter Issues

AFSCME retiree chapters provide a cohesive organization through which to maintain and improve public sector pension and health care benefits. With health and pension benefits under increasing attack, public sector retirees must constantly be on the alert to prevent their benefits from being manipulated by an insensitive political system.

Skyrocketing increases in health care costs have become a particular concern, since they can lead to cost-shifting to retirees, cuts in benefits and diminished options for care.

There are also problems on the pension side, especially in the area of post-retirement pension adjustments, which don't exist in some public retirement systems. In order for pensioners to maintain their pensions' buying power, they need to receive automatic annual adjustments or occasional ad hoc increases.

Both the health care and pension issues are central to the legislative programs of AFSCME retiree chapters around the country.

On the national level, AFSCME and it's retiree chapters have been involved in a wide range of Federal issues that are important to senior citizens. These include protecting Social Security and Medicare, controlling health care costs, and establishing a system of universal coverage of long term care.

The AFSCME Retiree Program represents the interests of retired public employees in major national coalitions such as the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, the Long Term Care Campaign and the public sector Coalition to Assure Retirement Equity (CARE). The AFSCME Retiree Program is also a sponsor of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a new organization of over 2 million retired union members and their community-based allies.

For more information, contact "retirees@afscme.org"

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Jerry LaPoint
Retiree Chapter 7, Wisconsin

Jerry LaPoint

"AFSCME values the experience and dedication of its retiree members. We built this union, and AFSCME gives us the respect we deserve. That’s why we’re the biggest organization of retired public employees in the country and the fastest growing retiree group in the labor movement."