About 150 retired union members gathered June 13 at the St. Paul Labor Centre for the fifth annual convention of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO. Among their concerns were rising prices for prescription drugs and proposals to undermine the Social Security system.

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernard Brommer, who will become a retiree himself on Aug. 1, outlined many of the issues in a speech to delegates. He talked about problems in the health care system, as epitomized by the current nurses' strike at Fairview hospitals in the Twin Cities.

He also blasted the huge increases in the price of prescription drugs and the cost of unregulated electricity in places such as California.

"We're being ripped off!" Brommer thundered. "We're being taken advantage of by capitalism in this country and we better do something about it, because they are going to destroy the nation."

Government must be part of the solution, but too many elected officials do not want to take a stand, he said. He urged retirees to get involved in electing pro-worker candidates in the 2002 elections.

"We're going to have to organize, organize, organize to put an end to it and put a stop to it," he said.

For more information

Visit the Gopher Retiree section on the Minnesota AFL-CIO website: http://www.mnaflcio.org/gretirees.html