The AFT Public Employees program and policy council (PPC) is the national advisory body for the public employee division. The group monitors issues that could affect the division’s members and recommends policy at the national AFT level.

The PPC reports tothe AFT president and executive council, which is composed of, among others, AFT vice presidents from each of the union’s five constituency groups: K-12 education, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, higher education, healthcare and public employees.

AFT vice presidents representing the public employee division are: Roger Benson, president of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF), and Jim McGarvey, vice president of Montana’s MEA-MFT, a merged state federation of the AFT and the National Education Association. McGarvey also is chair of the AFT Public Employees PPC; and over the summer he was elected executive secretary of the Montana AFL-CIO.

Lee Jackson PPC vice chair
Jackson is president of the Kentucky Association of State Employees/AFT Kentucky. He is the workforce development manager in the Lexington office of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Office of Employment and Training.

Jill Cohenour
Cohenour is president of MEA-MFT’s Federation of Public Health and Human Services. She is a chemist at the Montana State Environmental Lab. Cohenour also is a state legislator, representing East Helena.

Gary Feist
Feist is president of the North Dakota Public Employees Association. He is a corporate tax auditor.

Art Foeste
Foeste is chair of AFT Wisconsin’s State Employees Council. He is a corporate tax field auditor.

Joe Fox
Fox is vice president of the New York State Public Employees Federation. He was a healthcare fiscal analyst.

Bruce Ludwig
Ludwig is business manager of the Alaska Public Employees Association. He was the association’s general counsel and served as the state’s director of labor relations prior to that.

George Myers
Myers is president of the Maryland Professional Employees Council. Myers worked as a commercial assessor for the state Department of Assessments and Taxation.

Jo Romero
Romero is president of the Colorado Federation of Public Employees. She was program assistant to the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Metropolitan State College in Denver.

Paula Stadeker
Stadeker is president of the Illinois Federation of State Office Educators. She is a principle consultant for special education services at the state Board of Education.

Mike Winkler
Winkler is president of AFT Connecticut’s Administrative and Residual Employees Union. He worked for the state Department of Social Services as a management analyst.