AFSCME President Lee Saunders will serve on a “unity task force” formed by former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to shape the Democratic Party’s platform for the 2020 elections and beyond.
The former rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination tapped a diverse group of leaders and experts to serve on task forces that will examine six areas: climate change, criminal justice reform, economy, education, health care and immigration.
Saunders will serve on the economy panel.
The task forces will meet before the Democratic National Convention, currently scheduled for August, to make recommendations to the DNC Platform Committee and to Biden, according to a press release today from the Biden campaign and the Friends of Bernie Sanders.
“A united party is key to defeating Donald Trump this November and moving our country forward through an unprecedented crisis,” said Biden. “From health care to reforming our justice system to rebuilding a more inclusive and fair economy, the work of the task forces will be essential to identifying ways to build on our progress and not simply turn the clock back to a time before Donald Trump, but transform our country.”
Sanders said, “In the midst of the unprecedented economic and pandemic crises we face, the Democratic Party must think big, act boldly, and fight to change the direction of this country. To create an agenda that the working class of this country desperately needs, and moves us toward a more just society, we must solicit the best ideas.”
Saunders and AFSCME have led a nationwide campaign to persuade Congress to provide aid to states, cities and towns that are reeling from dramatic revenue losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. As president of one of the nation’s largest labor unions, he has also long been a prominent, influential voice in fighting for the rights and freedoms of all working people.