Banner

Step Increase, Job Cuts for State Employees

The governor's $42 billion Maryland State spending budget has been unveiled, and it includes a step increase for State Employees without the cuts to overtime or sick leave rights that he originally proposed. This is a big win for union members, who have fought hard for this increase.

On the other hand, the governor has proposed eliminating state employee positions to "right-size" many departments. Other positions and services could be privatized, which means lower wages and no union contract.

NOW IS THE TIME TO SPEAK UP.

Join us for Lobby Night in Annapolis this Monday, Jan. 25th. AFT-Maryland

MORE

CUB Retirees Rally to Stop the TPP

On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, CUB retirees joined a rally sponsored by the Alliance for Retired Americans and the AFL-CIO in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the Baltimore World Trade Center.

LaVerne Foster, the CUB Retiree Chapter President, reports that they want to let people know that retirees are FIRED UP about the TPP agreement.

Voting for the TPP would mean fewer jobs and lower wages for American workers. TPP also contains extreme patent protections for name-brand pharmaceuticals that threaten to restrict access to cheaper lifesaving medicines in all TPP countries

MORE

Join AFT-Maryland for Lobby Night in Annapolis

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"33419","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"250","style":"width: 100%; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"500"}}]]

*** RESCHEDULED ***

Due to the blizzard and hazardous road conditions, the Lobby Night scheduled for Mon. Jan. 25th has been rescheduled for Mon. Feb. 22nd.
We hope you'll join us then!

MORE

911 Workers Protest Shift Changes

Baltimore County 911 call center employees protested a threat of major scheduling changes on Monday night outside county headquarters in Towson. The Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees (Local #4883) organized the rally, and members of other unions attended to show their support, as well, including 911/311 call center employees from Baltimore City, who are members of the City Union of Baltimore (Local #800). 
 
Union members are protesting a mandatory rotating shift policy. The shift change has already caused dozens of 911 call center employees to leave the department, which is now
MORE

Response to SUN article on 911 Call Center employees

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"9776","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image media-image-right","style":"width: 100px; height: 100px; margin: 5px; float: right;","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]The issues raised in a recent Baltimore Sun article involving citizens receiving busy signals and facing dropped calls are occurring more frequently now than previously. This Union has pointed out in numerous meetings with the current management that the problem is exacerbated, in large part, by continued understaffing and high employee turnover due to a stressful and heavy workload, coupled with management’s indifference. The City Union of Baltimore is in full support of the efforts by the Baltimore City Council to return the 911 operators and emergency dispatchers to the authority of the Baltimore Police Department.

Read 

 
MORE

Community Voter Registration

Continuing with AFT efforts to promote democracy and add more voices to the political process locally and nationally, AFT-Maryland Political Coordinator Todd Reynolds led a voter registration drive Sunday August 16th at Macedonia Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md. The drive was but a small example of the "Reclaim Baltimore" initiative introduced at the 2015 AFT-Maryland Convention.

The initiative focused on revitalizing the city in the wake of the unrest after the Freddie Gray death. One aspect was to increase citizen participation in the political process. With a Presidential, Senate, Mayoral &

MORE