State Employees

State's employees have given enough Two of the six budget-cutting recommendations in The Sun's editorial "Not deep enough" (July 12) call for significant sacrifices on the part of state employees and retirees. But why must state employees and retirees always be the ones to make the greatest sacrifices whenever the state has budget problems? The Sun recommends that state retirees should have their health care plan "scaled back." The editorial notes that the plan is "too far out of line with the private sector."

Several dozen state workers in Baltimore braved a chill wind yesterday to press Maryland officials for bigger pay checks.The rally at the state office complex by members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees comes on the eve of pay negotiations between the union and state officials.AFSCME leaders highlighted what they say is a substantial gap between many state salaries and those of government workers in Maryland counties and in nearby states.With that gap as a rallying cry, union officials hope to capitalize on the state's substantial budget surplus, which is projected to reach $600 million this year.

Senate committee OKs bill increasing state police pensionsA state Senate committee voted yesterday to approve the governor's $10 million plan to increase state police pensions, offering troopers a boost in retirement pay and letting them start accumulating pension money five years before they leave work.Gov. Parris N. Glendening says the pension deal is needed to stem the flow of top-flight troopers to police departments that offer better pay and benefits.Because of the unique -- and expensive -- deferred retirement option, the Budget and Taxation Committee added wording to the bill indicating similar deals will not be offered to other state employees.

Give child support collection duties back to public sectorThe Sun's article "Lockheed called failure on child support goals" (March 4) clearly illustrates that privatizing government functions is not as easy as some make it out to be.In that article, you reported that the state of Maryland was not going to extend Lockheed-Martin IMS' contract to collect child support payments because the firm fell far short of meeting the goals specified in its contract with...

The House of Delegates approved Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposal to give state employees legally guaranteed collective bargaining rights yesterday, an important step toward achieving one of the governor's top legislative priorities.The bill now goes to the Senate.The 103-32 vote came after Howard County Del. Robert L. Flanagan, the House Republican whip, warned that its passage would lead to the demise of the Maryland Classified Employees Association, Maryland's oldest state workers' organization.

The Baltimore County health director warned county and state employees at a Towson office building yesterday to watch for symptoms of Legionnaires' disease after a Health Department staffer contracted the disease.In a memo from Dr. Michelle A. Leverett, about 700 county and state employees were notified that Legionnaires' disease, which could be spread through a building's water and ventilation systems, has been diagnosed in a worker in the Investment Building.An environmental consultant will test the drinking water and the ventilation system in the 13-story building off York Road, said an attorney for the building's owner, A.M.G.

The Maryland Classified Employees Association, the oldest organization representing state workers, boasts a strong record of achievement for public employees: sick leave in the 1930s, pensions in the '40s, a credit union in the '50s, longevity pay in the '60s and retirement after 25 years in the '70s.But two years after it was rejected by state employees in elections to choose a collective bargaining agent, the 64-year-old labor organization is fighting to survive the 1999 General Assembly session.

Collective bargaining is needed to protect slighted state workersThe article "Md. workers group fights for its life" (Feb 21) seems to suggest that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees' purpose in seeking collective bargaining legislation is to threaten the Maryland Classified Employees Association.Missing from the article are the real reasons that AFSCME and other state employees are pushing collective bargaining rights.For years, state employees have been left out of important decisions that affect their work lives.

IT'S PAYBACK time in Annapolis. Gov. Parris Glendening is rewarding his friends -- is he ever -- and punishing his enemies. All in the guise of public policy.Take the governor's goodies for the American Federal of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME. Christmas is coming real early for this labor union. The governor wants to give AFSCME a giant financial windfall and cement its position as the new powerhouse of unions representing state employees.Why? Because AFSCME worked overtime to elect Mr. Glendening twice.

Senate bill would allow more suits against stateUnder Maryland's Constitution, as treasurer and as a member of the state Board of Public Works, my primary duty is to preserve and protect the state's financial well-being.Because Senate Bill 618, by adopting "comparative fault," would hurt the state's fiscal condition by generating more lawsuits against the state, I will join other government and business leaders to ask the General Assembly to reject this bill and to preserve the contributory negligence doctrine.

To listen to Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch, the state is starving. "You're down to bone and gristle now when it comes to state government," the Democrat recently said in response to the $454 million cut from the current budget last month by the Board of Public Works. The state has burned $736 million worth of flab from the $14 billion 2010 operating budget in the past two months. But the trims do not imperil big government in Maryland. And they resemble a series of bulimic purges more than any systemic dietary changes - meaning more rounds of cuts will be necessary to balance the budget in coming years.

Baltimorean Ben Greene stopped at the glass door entrance on West Preston Street on Friday and couldn't figure out why the state office building was locked. The lights were off, but no signs were posted to explain the closure. "Did they run out of money or something?" Greene asked, perplexed. As a matter of fact, the state is running short of cash. Gov. Martin O'Malley decided to close offices around Maryland and kept about 70,000 state employees home without pay as part of a plan to save $75 million and help close a budget gap of more than $700 million.

When a retired Dennis Gist got tired of "walking from room to room" in his Upper Marlboro home, he took a state social services job working with troubled youth. He didn't want to put on a suit and tie every day again; he just wanted to do some good in the world. Now his wife, also retired from another job, works across the hall, making financial arrangements for long-term care of poor elderly residents. The Gists are at the forefront of a recession - the ranks of the needy have swelled at social services departments as more residents seek food stamps, cash assistance or other help - and now the economic downturn has come to their household.

Mayor Sheila Dixon said Wednesday that Baltimore residents might see a "change in services" and city workers will face furloughs and layoffs to close a $60 million spending gap opened by the most recent state aid cuts and slumping tax revenues. "We are looking at a number of areas," Dixon said. "There will be layoffs." The city laid off more than 150 workers in June when it adopted its $2.3 billion budget. City Council members said yesterday that they would take voluntary furlough days to show solidarity with city workers.

About 70,000 state employees would see their salaries reduced under a furlough proposal from Gov. Martin O'Malley to save $75 million in the middle of the latest budget crisis. The plan includes a shutdown of routine state government operations for five days around holidays, including the Friday before the coming Labor Day weekend. The highest paid employees - those earning more than $100,000 a year - would lose two weeks' pay. Lowest-paid workers would be docked for three days. Salaries would return to current levels next year.

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to outline about $300 million in budget cuts today that will mostly fall on state agencies. But future rounds of cutbacks could include furloughs of state employees, officials said. O'Malley, a Democrat, briefed legislative leaders on his proposed budget cuts over a two-hour dinner meeting at the governor's mansion in Annapolis Monday night. The governor must pare about $700 million from the $14 billion budget for the fiscal year that began this month because the recession has caused tax receipts to slump.

Group homes are no panacea; Rosewood will be missed In your editorial on the closing of the Rosewood Center ("Rosewood's reckoning," July 5), you write, "The strain of this transition on some residents and their loved ones has no doubt been significant. For some, Rosewood has been their home for decades. It's no surprise that not everyone is pleased with what has taken place. Group homes can have their faults, too." In fact, not everyone is pleased with the closure of Rosewood, and for good reason.

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.

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.

Steve Steurer framed both letters and hung them on his office wall as a "reality check." The first one, signed on Oct. 2, 1991, by the Maryland schools superintendent - then as now, Nancy S. Grasmick - regretfully informed him that he was being let go. Steurer was one of the 1,766 state employees who were targeted for layoffs as a recession - then as now - plunged the state budget into deficit. But it is perhaps the second letter, dated Oct. 23, 1991, that is particularly instructive, as seemingly every day, both the public and private sectors unload more and more employees.