After 14 Years at the Helm, AFSCME President Lee Saunders to Retire in August 2026 Following a Historic Tenure
Saunders energized AFSCME's activist culture, leaving it on strong footing for the future
WASHINGTON – After 14 years as president and a lifetime of service to working people and the labor movement, AFSCME President Lee Saunders has announced his decision to retire from his role as International President.
Lee Saunders has devoted his career to expanding the power of public service workers across the country. He came to AFSCME in 1978 as a labor economist and quickly rose through the ranks, negotiating major contracts, building powerful coalitions, going toe to toe with hostile politicians, and working with affiliates through important moments.
AFSCME Strong brought the union back to the fundamentals of organizing and ignited a renewed culture of grassroots activism. At a make-or-break moment, President Saunders modernized and revitalized AFSCME, positioning the union to withstand existential threats, including the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, a ruling designed to rig the rules so workers would have fewer resources and less power. The real goal was to silence working people by undermining their ability to stand together, but President Saunders responded by expanding organizing and deepening member engagement across the union.
Under President Saunders’ leadership, AFSCME met some of the most challenging moments facing working families with clarity and resolve. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as AFSCME members risked their lives to serve their communities, President Saunders helped secure emergency funding with the passage of the American Rescue Plan, preserving essential public services and saving jobs and communities across the country.
Amid historic political division and uncertainty, President Saunders’ leadership preserved AFSCME’s unity and strengthened solidarity among union members. Today, AFSCME is a union that continues to grow and create new opportunities for collective bargaining in states across the country, winning new collective bargaining laws in Colorado, Virginia, and Nevada and opening the door for thousands more public service workers to have a real voice on the job.
President Saunders said, “It has been an honor to work on behalf of America’s public service workers. Leadership changes hands, but the power stays exactly where it has always been, with the workers. Worker power endures, and AFSCME is built for the fights ahead.”
President Saunders’ retirement will take effect at the conclusion of the next AFSCME International Convention in August 2026, where delegates will elect new leadership to carry forward the union’s mission.
AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride announced that she will also step down from her position at the conclusion of the August 2026 convention, noting that she will continue to work within the labor movement. McBride has served as Secretary-Treasurer since 2017. She has been a steady steward of the union’s resources and a champion for strong, member-driven locals. McBride joined the labor movement in 1989 as a member of United Auto Workers District 65. She graduated from the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and worked as a union organizer, helping workers across the country form unions and win first contracts. She joined AFSCME in 2001 as the Director of Education and Leadership Training. As Secretary-Treasurer, she has partnered with President Saunders to strengthen and grow the union, launched the Secretary-Treasurer Online Resource Center, and stood with members on picket lines, organizing campaigns, rallies, and GOTV efforts nationwide.