Lifelong unionism keeps AFT retirees active

Nearly 200 AFT retiree leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., in September for their biennial leadership conference, which focused both on ways to build membership and on legislative issues.

The AFT program on retirement and retirees continues to grow: More than 180,000 retired AFT members belong to 90 chapters nationwide. The high turnout at this year’s conference reflects this trend—making it the largest conference ever.

The goal is “to hold on to the members who helped to build the organization and keep them active,” said Walter Dunn, chair of the AFT standing committee on retirement and retirees, at the opening session of the gathering, which had the theme “Lifelong Unionism: Keeping the Promise.”

The active involvement of AFT retirees has made a difference in the lives of their peers from Alaska to Ohio, and in New York—where members successfully fought the state’s attempts to eliminate or significantly reduce healthcare benefits.

Raymond Ferraro was honored as retiree of the year, receiving the first Jeannette B. DiLorenzo Award, named after the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) longtime treasurer and retiree chapter chair. Ferraro is the former president of the retiree chapter of the Public Employees Federation in New York. During his eight-year tenure as president, PEF retiree membership more than tripled: from 4,100 to nearly 13,000.

Special recognition also was given to Luisa Kaufman-Phelan, a retired member of the UFT who now lives in Arizona. In the summer, the activist retiree and four others were arrested for demonstrating against the current Medicare legislation at the Phoenix office of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a supporter of Medicare privatization and Medicare conference committee member.

Ed Coyle, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, spoke about his organization’s efforts to achieve a prescription drug plan through Medicare—without privatizing the program. “No one really knows what will happen with this bill,” Coyle said. “Time is on our side. The longer it takes the committee to finish its work on the prescription drug legislation, the more time people will have to take a closer look at it.”

Citing a USA Today/Gallup poll, Coyle pointed out that 76 percent of seniors prefer no bill to a bad bill. The more seniors know about the bill, the more they turn away from it, he said.

Coyle urged members to continue to make their senators and representatives accountable. “The issue has caught fire at the grass-roots level, and the work we do with the AFT is important and has had an impact,” he said. “We will continue to try and make a difference.”

Like the alliance, the AFT oposes both the Senate and House versions of the prescription drug legislation in their current form and will only back a final bill that includes Medicare as a provider of prescription drugs, protects retiree drug benefits already in place, preserves retirees’ right to choose their doctors, opposes means testing Medicare, and safeguards Medicare against privatization.

At press time, Senate and House conferees were attempting to reconcile their respective bills, with Republican leaders having set an Oct. 17 deadline for agreeing on a single bill and sending it to the full House and Senate.

Also addressing the issue was U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who has been a vocal opponent of the legislation because he believes that “seniors will be pushed away from Medicare and pulled toward privatization.” He wants a plan that includes substantial coverage for prescription drugs by building on the current Medicare system.

Medicare will continue to be important in the 2004 election because it is an issue for everyone—“retirees, those approaching retirement, the children and grandchildren of people who face these costs. It’s not going away,” said Coyle.

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