Maryland Workers

The past decade not only saw monumental upheaval in the economy but also a reordering of Maryland's work force. Employers in health care and government steadily added jobs, even through two recessions. But manufacturing, once the cornerstone of the state's economy, shrank by more than a third between the end of 2000 and 2010. Employment in construction, financial services and retail retreated to 1990s levels. The divergence has been striking. While growth sectors added 200,000 jobs in Maryland over the past 10 years, declining industries shed just over 140,000 jobs, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis of estimates from the U.S. Department of Labor.

I am no economic expert, but common sense suggests that if Constellation and Exelon merge, most if not all the consequences will be detrimental to Marylanders. Exelon would be buying Constellation, so when the number of workers is reduced - as always happens for cost-cutting reasons when mergers occur - Maryland workers will be the ones laid off. And does anyone doubt that electricity prices, especially in Maryland will go up? Anyone with eyes and ears must know that this will happen.

WASHINGTON -- Two thousand Maryland workers have "LEAP-ed" into a brighter future, thanks to federal grants that support workplace literacy programs.Maryland's Labor Education Achievement Program (LEAP) is slated to receive $400,469 in July to fund the program's fourth year. With that money, LEAP hopes to help some 400 adults who lack high school-level reading, writing and math skills.The U.S. Department of Education yesterday awarded $19.2 million in grants to 55 workplace literacy programs in 30 states, including Maryland.

Your report using the figure of $220,000 for the "average sale price of a typical home" tells us nothing about what workers in relatively low-paying jobs can afford ("Housing costs out of reach for many Maryland workers," July 21). How about a more useful story about the difficulties ordinary people face in finding affordable housing? And stop using averages for housing costs and give us the median numbers. In the future, take the time to do a more in-depth look at your subject before publishing an alarming but not so useful article.

GAF Corp. said yesterday that it has settled with more than 8,500 Maryland plaintiffs who sued the company over injuries from asbestos products made by a GAF subsidiary.The settlement may mark a turning point toward resolution of the biggest consolidated asbestos case in the nation.The terms of the deal between the New Jersey-based chemical and building products conglomerate and the workers, most of whom were exposed to asbestos at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point steel mill, were not disclosed.

I am no economic expert, but common sense suggests that if Constellation and Exelon merge, most if not all the consequences will be detrimental to Marylanders. Exelon would be buying Constellation, so when the number of workers is reduced - as always happens for cost-cutting reasons when mergers occur - Maryland workers will be the ones laid off. And does anyone doubt that electricity prices, especially in Maryland will go up? Anyone with eyes and ears must know that this will happen.

Dianna E. Farrell, former director of self-insurance for the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission, died of cancer Saturday at Stella Maris Hospice at Mercy Medical Center. She was 56 and lived in Rosedale. Ms. Farrell was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended secretarial school after graduating from high school. Her work as a legal secretary and her activities in the Democratic Party in the 1960s brought her to the attention of Paul O'Dwyer, president of the New York City Council, who appointed her to his staff.

Four students selected for scholarship programHoward Community College has announced the first recipients of a scholarship fund established by the Amerix Corp. of Columbia, the Amerix 21st Century Fund, to help low- and moderate-income students take job training courses.Winners are Luxie Gannon, Michele Williams and Linda Chiaverini of Columbia and Suzanne Sanders of Laurel.The women are enrolled in the college's Patient-Care Technician course, which prepares students to work in entry-level hospital positions.

Your report using the figure of $220,000 for the "average sale price of a typical home" tells us nothing about what workers in relatively low-paying jobs can afford ("Housing costs out of reach for many Maryland workers," July 21). How about a more useful story about the difficulties ordinary people face in finding affordable housing? And stop using averages for housing costs and give us the median numbers. In the future, take the time to do a more in-depth look at your subject before publishing an alarming but not so useful article.

A controversy that has roiled the job market for 14- and 15-year-old Marylanders was extended for at least a year yesterday, as Hardee's Food Systems Inc. settled charges that its no-young-teens hiring rule violated state laws against age discrimination.On the morning that testimony was supposed to begin again in the widely watched case, Hardee's agreed to make small back-pay awards to the 120 Maryland workers under the age of 16 whom it fired as a part of its decision to stop employing young teen-agers.

As a retired state employee, I read the joke of a new contract our governor made with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the on- paper-only representative for state workers, for the next three years ( "State workers approve contract, possible raise," Feb. 3). My first laugh was the phrase "state workers approve…" in the title, since the fewer than 6,000 of 43,000 AFSCME members who chose to vote for their bargaining representatives were considered as speaking for all state employees.

The past decade not only saw monumental upheaval in the economy but also a reordering of Maryland's work force. Employers in health care and government steadily added jobs, even through two recessions. But manufacturing, once the cornerstone of the state's economy, shrank by more than a third between the end of 2000 and 2010. Employment in construction, financial services and retail retreated to 1990s levels. The divergence has been striking. While growth sectors added 200,000 jobs in Maryland over the past 10 years, declining industries shed just over 140,000 jobs, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis of estimates from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Employees of the state university system will be furloughed up to five days under a plan approved yesterday by the Maryland Board of Regents that would save $16 million in salary costs. Regents said the furloughs, which will come between January and June, were preferable to laying off any of the system's 22,500 full-time employees. The furloughs, the system's first since 1992, were ordered by the governor as the state tries to balance its budget in the face of declining revenues and a global economic crisis.

Maryland's minimum-wage law became moot last month when the federal minimum wage rose to $6.55 an hour, or 40 cents higher than what the state required. Next summer, the state minimum-wage law sinks further underwater when the federal wage rises to $7.25. Between now and January, when the next General Assembly session convenes, Gov. Martin O'Malley needs to formulate a plan to revive the state minimum wage to a realistic standard. The potential benefits of such a law on the lives of Maryland's working-class citizens - and on our most impoverished communities - are too great to ignore.

A state agency that has helped hundreds of workers recoup millions in lost wages has gone on a one-year hiatus after funding was cut, leaving employees with little recourse to pursue earnings claims against their employers. Workers for employers that included strip clubs and nursing homes have recouped about $2.8 million by contacting Maryland's Employment Standards Service, a review of state labor data to 1998 showed. But that state agency's work ended July 1 because of budget cuts and may not resume until next summer, leaving thousands of Marylanders without a state or federal department to ensure companies pay them.

A state agency that's helped hundreds of workers recoup millions in lost wages has gone on a one-year hiatus after funding was cut, leaving employees with little recourse to pursue earnings claims against their employers. Workers for employers from strip clubs to nursing homes have recouped about $2.8 million by contacting Maryland's Employment Standards Service, a review of state labor data back to 1998 showed. But that state agency's work ended July 1 because of budget cuts and may not resume until summer, leaving thousands of Marylanders without a state or federal department to ensure companies pay them.

Kirschner Medical Corp. announced yesterday it would phase out one of its Maryland medical equipment manufacturing operations, sell its Timonium headquarters building and move its administrative staff into smaller nearby offices.C. Scott Harrison, chairman of the troubled medical products company, said yesterday that the 30-worker orthopedics production facility in Maryland would be closed and moved to Kirschner's Fairlawn, N.J. plant.Some Maryland workers at the plant, which finishes products such as artificial knees, will be offered positions at the New Jersey facility, he said.

Any misgivings about Westinghouse Corp.'s diversification moves were put to rest by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney's decision to ax the A-12, the Navy's medium-range carrier-based stealth bomber. Westinghouse, a major subcontractor on the $52 billion project, expects to idle as many as 1,200 Maryland workers once it gets final word from prime contractor General Dynamics. In the interim, the company is scrambling to reassign some of these workers to other jobs.Disastrous as it was, the cancellation didn't catch the big contractor flat-footed.

The Ehrlich administration systematically got rid of state employees believed to be politically or personally disloyal to the governor, according to testimony yesterday from a former employee of the Maryland Department of Human Resources. For months, Democrats alleged that the governor reached deeper than necessary into state agencies to replace rank-and-file workers with devoted Republicans. Yesterday, Thomas Burgess was the first sworn witness to appear before a special committee investigating the governor's personnel practices to give his account of some of those firings.

Undocumented workers who are injured on the job are eligible for workers' compensation benefits, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. The court found that Diego E. Lagos, who injured his hand while working as a carpenter for Design Kitchen and Baths of Montgomery County in 2001, could receive workers' compensation benefits despite his status as an undocumented worker. Not covering undocumented workers under the law "would retard the goals of workers' compensation laws and leave these individuals with only two options, receive no relief for work-related injuries or sue in tort," according to the opinion authored by Chief Judge Robert M. Bell.