NEWS
October 20, 2009
To soften budget cuts, AFSCME, the state workers union, says Maryland should tap its rainy day fund, which the state has resisted for fear of losing its AAA bond rating. Should we use the fund? Yes 26% No 71% Not sure 3% (1,143 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : The Justice Department has announced that people who use medical marijuana and their authorized suppliers should not be targeted for federal prosecution in states that, unlike Maryland, allow medical marijuana. Do you agree with this policy?
NEWS
July 3, 2009
In principle, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has an excellent argument for the so-called "fair share" law that went into effect in Maryland this week. It negotiates contracts for tens of thousands of state employees, whether they are members of the union or not. Conducting those negotiations costs money, and it isn't right that nonmembers get the benefits without paying their share of the costs. But the potential side effects of the law are cause for concern.
NEWS
February 26, 2009
Unfair for AFSCME to get additional fee AFSCME Maryland Director Patrick Moran was quoted in "Union seeks nonmember fees" (Feb. 18) as saying that AFSCME's efforts to seek a mandatory deduction of service fees from the paychecks of state employees is "about democracy, bottom line." What Mr. Moran, and the article addressing the legislation to allow a mandatory fee, fail to acknowledge is that when elections were held more than a dozen years ago, and AFSCME fought hard for the votes of state employees to become their collective bargaining representative, its representatives made no mention of such service fees.
NEWS
By Laura Smitherman | February 18, 2009
The state's largest employees union wants permission to collect fees from workers who don't pay dues and who might belong to other unions, a plan that has the backing of pro-labor Gov. Martin O'Malley and awaits legislative approval. Critics characterize the proposal as a money grab that would create a labor monopoly. But leaders with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees argued yesterday that the group is unfairly subsidizing employees who don't pay dues but who benefit from its work negotiating contracts with the state and providing representation for grievances.
NEWS
By Jamie Smith Hopkins | July 25, 2008
The workers who clean Oriole Park at Camden Yards - and who fought a successful campaign last year for higher wages - have voted to unionize, AFSCME Maryland said yesterday. The union, the state affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the cleaners voted 64 to 13 to join. About 130 were eligible to vote. AFSCME hailed the results, tallied early yesterday morning, as a victory for "contingent workers" with no set schedule. They are employed by Chimes DC, which is an arm of Baltimore nonprofit Chimes International and has a contract with the Maryland Stadium Authority.
NEWS
By GREG GARLAND | November 4, 2006
The executive board of a union that represents about 10,000 state and university workers in Maryland has dismissed its executive director, but he is contesting the decision. Ron Bailey, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 92 for the past two years, confirmed yesterday that the union's executive board voted not to renew his contract at a meeting Oct. 11. The contract expired Tuesday. Bailey said he will take the issue to arbitration because the board failed to honor a clause requiring that he be given 90 days' notice before termination.
NEWS
By Doug Donovan | July 28, 2005
Baltimore's lowest-paid government workers will receive 4 percent annual pay raises under three-year contracts reached with Mayor Martin O'Malley that will likely ensure the mayor avoids labor unrest in the city as he runs for governor next year. The contracts with the City Union of Baltimore and AFSCME Local 44 complete the administration's goal of signing long-term deals with all of its bargaining unions, including the units representing police officers, firefighters and fire officers.
NEWS
By Ryan Davis | January 27, 2004
Anne Arundel County has reached a three-year agreement with its largest employee union, a sign that County Executive Janet S. Owens is willing to dole out raises for the next fiscal year. The county's approximately 800-member labor and maintenance union, AFSCME Local 582, ratified Thursday an agreement that would provide employees a 2 percent cost-of-living increase for the fiscal year that begins July 1, county officials said. In subsequent years they would receive raises of 3 percent and 2 percent.
NEWS
By Jules Witcover | January 12, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa - "Solidarity" is the customary byword in the labor movement, but it's being intentionally ignored here as Iowans mobilize for the Jan. 19 Democratic presidential precinct caucuses. With the national AFL-CIO having declined to endorse a candidate and state federations thus prohibited from doing so, organized labor in Iowa is split, essentially between longtime champion Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of neighboring Missouri and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. Mr. Gephardt has the backing of 21 unions in Iowa under a new national umbrella organization called the Alliance for Economic Justice.
NEWS
By Laura Vozzella | September 26, 2003
City officials and two labor unions reached a tentative agreement yesterday that would give 2 percent raises to about half the city's workers while also charging them more for health benefits. The membership of the city's two largest unions - the City Union of Baltimore and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 44 - has to approve the agreement. But after a months-long impasse, participants said they were hopeful that they'd made a breakthrough. "We've been working very hard with AFSCME and CUB, and negotiating in good faith with them in a very, very tough budget year," Mayor Martin O'Malley said.