AFSCME Council 25 President Al Garrett Announces Retirement

DETROIT (WWJ) -- Al Garrett, President of AFSCME Council 25, told WWJ Newsradio 950 on Monday that he is retiring in November.

In an exclusive interview with City Beat reporter Vickie Thomas, Garrett talked about his proudest moments.

"The opportunity to serve the members and to have some impact in terms of our community," Garrett said.

The union battled the city hard when Detroit became the largest municipality to file for bankruptcy. Garrett believed Governor Rick Snyder planned the bankruptcy all along, but said it wasn't the crisis it was made it out to be.

"Bankruptcy is not the solution … it has been the plan of this administration … there has been a decision made that the people running Detroit, the people who live in Detroit, ought not have a say in what the destiny of the city of Detroit is," Garrett said in 2013.

Garrett spoke with Thomas at Detroit's annual Labor Day parade on Monday.

"We've won some, we've lost some and we've had some draws," Garrett said. "I guess maybe the most frustrating thing is the potential labor and it not living up to that potential. There was no middle class without us and as we lose power in the workplace the chances of it restoring itself gets even less."