Seniors joins forces with AFL-CIO in advocacy group

By Emily Richmond

Friday, June 8, 2001 | 10:23 a.m.

The AFL-CIO, acknowledging that its membership is aging, has launched a new advocacy group targeting senior voters.

The National Council of Senior Citizens voted last year in Las Vegas to fold its membership into the labor group's newly-formed Alliance for Retired Americans. At its peak, the NCSC had 200,000 members. With the automatic addition of the labor union's retired members, the rolls will climb to more than 2.5 million.

The ARA will be open to anyone who wishes to join, not just retired workers, said Brenda Mitchell, one of the presidents of the new Clark County chapter of the alliance. The goal of the alliance is to serve as an advocacy group on behalf of seniors at the local, state and federal levels, Mitchell said.

Unlike the AARP -- which boasts more than 30 million members and offers a variety of discount plans, from vacations to health insurance -- the alliance will not sell goods or services, Mitchell said.

"We plan to strictly be an advocacy group," Mitchell said.

Carla Sloan, state director of the Nevada AARP, said her organization doesn't engage in comparisons with other senior organizations and would not comment whether the AFL-CIO's group could be considered competition.

"I will say there are plenty of issues out there of concern to seniors, and the more people working on them, the better," Sloan said.

The alliance on Tuesday played host to a public meeting at the Community Resource Center on Martin Luther King Boulevard. About 50 senior citizens attended. As is the case with many seniors, retired members of the AFL-CIO have cited prescription drug costs as a top concern, said Larry Heff, also a president of the alliance.

Seniors are fed up with excuses from Washington, Heff said.

"Congress has universal health care," Heff said. "What's the matter with us?"

Michael T. Aupperle, a retired union leader, said he was frustrated that the "greatest generation" was being forgotten.

"There are people who have done everything their country has asked them to," Aupperle said. "They've worked all their lives, paid their taxes and fought in wars. But we force them to go to Canada and Mexico for cheaper drugs."

Another concern is"notch babies," seniors born between 1917 and 1926 who receive reduced Social Security benefits under a revised formula, Mitchell said.

The alliance makes a point in its literature to describe itself as non-partisan and promises to back candidates from any party, provided they advance the group's agenda.

Ryan Erwin, executive director of the Nevada Republican Party, said it's a mistake to believe Democrats are the only ones fighting for seniors.

"Just look at the legislative session that just ended," Erwin said. "It was Gov. Kenny Guinn who increased the prescription plan for seniors, the first such plan in the nation, and it will be a model for other states. And if you look at the legislation introduced, Republicans clearly took the lead on senior issues."

Nathan Naylor, press secretary for Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, called the alliance "a welcome voice for all seniors."

"There's no doubt older Americans are powerful force in affecting politics since they turn out to vote more than any other age group," said pofessor Ted Jelen, chairman the UNLV political science department. "The senior lobby can be formidable."