AFSCME President Patrick Moran on Fighting for America’s Workers

August 27, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

“Billionaires have amassed an unprecedented amount of not only wealth, but power. And they’re using it to attack working people. There is no satisfying their greed. The only way to fight back is to get organized.”

That is the core message from Patrick Moran, the newly elected president of AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees), in a conversation with Ben Meiselas on the MeidasTouch Podcast. Moran, a lifelong organizer from Maryland, now leads a union of 1.4 million members who provide essential public services—from child care and nursing to sanitation and law enforcement. The episode is less a policy debate and more a practical, psychology-grounded discussion about how organized labor can resist a coordinated assault on workers and public services, and what it takes to build lasting power.

The Mechanism of Power: Organizing Over Everything

Moran’s central argument is straightforward: power in a union comes from membership, and membership comes from organizing. He repeatedly returns to this as the single most important lever. “More members in any union means more power,” he says, and he frames this as the only realistic counterweight to the concentration of wealth and influence among billionaires and corporate interests.

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What you'll learn

1 (07:07) **Labor Unions Are Organizing** - Host Ben Meiselas introduces the segment, contrasting the "Maga Mike" rant with a discussion on labor organizing
2 (08:05) **Patrick Moran on the Attack on Labor** - Moran describes the unprecedented threats facing American working people under the current regime
3 (10:08) **Billionaire Power and the Fight Back** - Moran explains how billionaire wealth is being used to attack working people
4 (11:04) **The K-Shaped Economy and the "Golden Age" Ruse** - Ben and Moran discuss the disconnect between the wealthy and workers
5 (13:35) **Moran's Plan: Hit the Road and Organize** - Moran outlines his immediate strategy for growing union power
6 (13:55) **The Full Scope of AFSCME's Reach** - Ben lists the diverse range of jobs within AFSCME that are under attack
7 (15:11) **Pushing Back at Every Level** - Moran explains the multi-level fight against reckless and cruel cuts

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Patrick Moran Ben Meiselas

Show Notes

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas shows how MAGA Mike Johnson just cracked today during his event in Texas as Trump continues to plummet in the polls and Meiselas interviews the new AFSCME President Patrick Moran.

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