Vacation Days

When it comes to Gov. Martin O'Malley's decision to furlough state employees to help offset a budget deficit, not all workers on Maryland's public payroll will be compelled to participate. The governor has no control over the legislative or judicial branches of government under the state constitution, which means Maryland lawmakers and judges won't necessarily have to feel the pinch. But the leaders of the General Assembly, House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, have said they will voluntarily participate in the governor's unpaid furlough plan once it's been decided - and they will strongly encourage their fellow legislators to join them.

Members of the Baltimore police union unanimously rejected last night a city contract proposal that would have given them a 2 1/4 percent pay raise and formally implemented a controversial "rotation policy," both bitter points of contention with union leaders.At the urging of their union bosses, officers voted down the proposal by a resounding 1,477-38. The turnout was the union's largest ever for a contract vote, said Lt. Leander S. Nevin, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3."

Nearly 100 workers who struck two Johnson & Towers Inc. facilities earlier this week will return to work Monday after they voted yesterday to accept a three-year contract, a union official said. The 97 workers, members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, struck the company's automotive services and distribution centers in Middle River and Beltsville after contract negotiations broke down last week. The previous three-year contract between Teamsters Local 311 and the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company expired at midnight April 18. Yesterday, the company's mechanics voted 74 to 4 to ratify the new agreement.

Smoking suit hearing scheduled for todayA judge in Prince George's County's Circuit Court will hold an initial hearing today on a lawsuit that if successful, could ban smoking in all Maryland workplaces.Al Ertel, an engineer at General Electric's Information Services division in Rockville, filed a suit last year asking the courts to force the state's safety agency to cite his employer for exposing him to a hazard: his co-workers' cigarette smoke.The Environmental Protection Agency has said second-hand smoke causes up to 3,000 lung cancer deaths a year.

Baltimore police officers got what they described as a stunning note accompanying their biweekly paychecks Friday — a memo from City Hall informing them that their pay will be cut by nearly 2 percent over the next six months. That means the average officer will see about $205 less in monthly pay starting Jan. 21. "Baltimore City will never be safe as long as the mayor continues to show her disrespect to the police," said Robert F. Cherry, president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Having trouble motivating yourself to get up on your vacation days? Well, the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum has a program to get you and your family up and active in the mornings. Starting July 2 the museum will host free educational programs on the boardwalk every day except Sunday. The programs start at 10 a.m. and last about a half-hour. Here is a rundown of the schedule: -Monday is Beach Patrol day. Kids can watch demonstrations of the latest life-saving tactics and equipment lifeguards use to keep swimmers safe.

MOUNT MORRIS, Pa. -- The conversation in the conference room at the New Warwick Mine Co. turns to rock. Veteran coal miner Dave Sweeder is perturbed. The men, their hands as calloused and coal-smeared as his own, are cutting too much slate with the coal, he says."

Diversity program key in promotion of minorities, women Women and minorities rarely have a chance for promotion unless their companies have a diversity program that is enforced - and rewards top management for complying with it. Fifty-nine percent of 530 senior executives polled by the Association of Executive Search Consultants, based in New York, report that their companies have an official "diversity in the workplace" policy. Thirty-four percent said their firms had no diversity programs at all. Seven percent had no idea if their companies had a program or not. Fun is on the missing list at work, author says Are you having fun at work?

In a sea of dwindling choices, most of Anne Arundel County's employee unions have made the right one -- holding on to their members' jobs.Hundreds of government employees have opted to take unpaid vacations or a 3 percent pay cut through the current budget year at the request of County Executive Robert R. Neall. There is a case to be made that these concessions -- aimed at closing a $20.8 million revenue gap -- were made under duress. They were. From the outset, layoffs were the clear alternative.

Discussion of financial uncertainty in the school system is routinely a part of the school board agenda, and tonight should prove no exception.The board was scheduled to discuss unfinished business about when employee furlough days should be taken -- even before Gov. William Donald Schaefer announced the possibility of further state budget cuts last week.Already, schools will be closed for two weeks over the Christmas holidays to save energy costs, reopening Jan. 6. The school system's 12-month employees have been asked to take two unpaid vacation days, in addition to the four-day furlough required of everyone.