Lee Saunders is the President of AFSCME, our international union made up of 1.4 million public service workers. He was elected at the union’s 40th International Convention in June 2012. 

Saunders began his career as a state employee in his native Ohio, where he was a member of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA). First joining AFSCME’s staff in the late 1970s as a labor economist, he has played a lead role in several major organizing campaigns, contract negotiations and political mobilizations across the country. Saunders has also served as administrator of a number of AFSCME councils and large locals, including District Council 37, New York City’s largest public employee union. 

In 2024, The Nation magazine described Saunders’ reputation as “a uniquely savvy and influential political strategist and policy advocate,” calling him “a working-class intellectual who trained as a labor economist but has always maintained the enthusiasm of a grassroots organizer.” Under Saunders’ leadership, the union launched a program called AFSCME Strong that builds power through internal and external organizing and strengthening communities.