Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Celebrating AFSCME President Lee Saunders

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor congratulating AFSCME President Lee Saunders on his retirement. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, I'll pay tribute to a dear friend and a juggernaut for labor who recently began a well-deserved retirement: AFSCME President Lee Saunders.

On Monday, there will be a celebration of Lee and all his work for the labor movement over the years. It'll be quite a party. I'm grateful to have known Lee for decades and have always been in awe of his steadfastness in defending working people.

For nearly 50 years, you could find Lee on the front lines for every labor issue imaginable - equal pay, better benefits, safer working conditions. You name it, Lee fought for it.

That includes these past 14 years that Lee has served as president of AFSCME. He also made history as the union's first African American president.

And as Lee steered this mighty union, I've had the privilege of standing shoulder to shoulder with him on issue after issue after issue.

Together, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we fought hard to secure $350 billion for frontline workers and state and local governments, keeping communities afloat and public servants on the payroll. Many, if not most, of these workers would have lost their jobs had it not been for these dollars. We had real opposition from many on the other side of the aisle, but we fought hard and prevailed.

Together, we worked tirelessly to ensure that over two million public servants received their hard-earned Social Security benefits.

And together, we continue to fight for the PRO Act, so workers can better organize and bargain for fair wages and benefits. And we have applied that PRO Act in companion legislation for public workers.

I couldn't have asked for a better partner in the trenches, and AFSCME's members couldn't have elected a better president to stand up for their rights in the face of some of the gravest challenges to organized labor in generations. In my own city of New York, city workers get paid a much better wage than they used to. Better benefits. Better pensions. All because of AFSCME and the fights that Lee Saunders led. And it's nice to see that hard-working public servants are actually being paid at least a decent wage, although obviously many of us think it should get greater.

Lee was always rising to meet the moment, unafraid to take on the hardest fights, and Lee's example will continue to inspire future efforts to support America's workers.

Lee: you lit an eternal flame in the heart of the labor movement, and it will long endure - no matter how hard corporate interests and union busters try to stamp it out.

I wish this great American the very best in his retirement and congratulate him on such a historic career.

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