Retiree News | October 2025

Kathy Schmidt grew up in a union household and went on to make her own mark as a labor leader who helped transform healthcare sector unionism from the 1980s onward. From 2001 to 2009, Schmidt was the national coordinator for the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, the groundbreaking labor-management partnership created in 1997 that drew praise as a model not just for healthcare labor relations but for the entire labor movement. From 1981 to 2001, Schmidt was president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, which played a key role in creating the coalition. In this Voices post, Schmidt talks about why she and other “founding mothers and brothers” of Oregon healthcare unionism are standing with OFNHP members seeking a fair contract.

 

Book bans, immigration raids and militarized law enforcement—all the reality of our world today— provided a grim backdrop. But the stories of successful fights, unshakeable solidarity and determination at the AFT Civil, Human and Women’s Right Conference Oct. 9-12 in Detroit—along with hands-on workshops where participants practiced the skills they need in these times—ignited AFT members and allies and reinforced the conviction that we will not just “hold the line,” but, as the conference title proclaimed. “We Are the Line.”

 

This year, Martha Strever marks 65 years of teaching at Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, N.Y., and she isn’t stopping. From chalkboards and model rockets to Macs and artificial intelligence, she’s embraced every change while keeping students first. Beloved across generations, Strever says her purpose remains simple: “I just love the children.”

 

Carrying through on earlier threats, President Donald Trump has encouraged congressional Republicans not to negotiate with Democrats on a budget for the new fiscal year, prompting a shutdown of the federal government that began Oct. 1. At the heart of the funding fight, Republicans are trying to take away healthcare from 15 million Americans by making the largest cuts in history to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, while Democrats are trying to protect and extend Americans’ healthcare benefits.

 

Authoritarianism is not just a distant threat; it’s here, and U.S. democracy is under attack as Donald Trump follows in the footsteps of authoritarian leaders around the world. In the Fall 2025 issue of American Educator, historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat explains how authoritarian leaders from Mussolini to Trump have sought to reshape education, medicine, science and child welfare—and how they employ propaganda, censorship and fear to dismantle institutions that protect truth, equality and public well-being. But Ben-Ghiat reminds us that history also shows the power of resistance. Educators, healthcare workers, unions and everyday citizens have a critical role to play in fighting back—through solidarity, truth-telling and organizing for democracy.  

 

Right now, Republicans in Congress are holding the federal budget hostage and pushing cuts that would rip away healthcare from millions of families. Working families already carry enough burdens: rising costs, stagnant wages and the daily stress of making ends meet. Increasing healthcare costs in the middle of these challenges is not just irresponsible, it’s cruel. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper to pressure the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to fix healthcare, fund the government and put workers first.  

 

On Oct. 18, an estimated 7 million people in communities across the country stood up in peaceful, patriotic protests to say: No thrones. No crowns. No kings. Americans rallied for fairness, freedom, dignity and a voice for working people. Thank you to the AFT leaders and members who helped make No Kings the largest day of protest this country has ever seen.