Building on 40 years' work by the National Council of Senior Citizens (NCSC), the AFL-CIO has launched the new Alliance for Retired Americans.

The 2-million-member-strong Alliance conducted its first board meeting Feb. 11 in Los Angeles, with an ambitious agenda for its first year of operations. The organization is planning a multi-city launch in May focusing on the need for a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. In its Resolution No. 1, the Alliance's board adopted a set of principles that any acceptable prescription drug legislation must include. The resolution calls for a universal, comprehensive Medicare drug plan that is voluntary and affordable and that allows retirees with superior benefits to remain in their current plans if they choose. It also calls for pharmaceutical price controls.

The Alliance is headed by George Kourpias, who was president of the predecessor NCSC; the NCSC's secretary-treasurer, Ruben Burks, fills the same position at the Alliance. AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka is an executive vice president. The 50-member board includes AFT secretary-treasurer Edward J. McElroy, who is an Alliance vice president, and board members Margaret Blackshere, former Illinois Federation of Teachers staffer; Bill Cea of NYSUT's Florida Retiree Council 43; AFT vice president Paul Cole; AFT retirement committee co-chair Jeannette DiLorenzo; William Parry, who is an AFT activist in Washington state; and AFT retiree director Frank Stella.

The Alliance for Retired Americans will be financed by a combination of national union contributions and funding from retired member benefit programs. Retired AFT members and those of other unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, as well as members of the former National Council of Senior Citizens, are automatically members of the Alliance and will not be charged dues. Other individuals may join the Alliance as at-large members for $10 per year.

At the February board meeting, Kourpias said that 2001 will be a year of outreach and study that will include four regional meetings and in-depth discussions during the spring and summer; these sessions will culminate with a "founding meeting" in Washington, D.C., in 2002. Kourpias called on all seniors and their families to "join the Alliance in the battle to win prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries."

The Alliance's goals also include winning universal health care for all Americans; protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; and securing rights for patients in HMOs.

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001