Last week, our bargaining team met with the State on Tuesday, October 24 at the AFSCME Maryland union hall in Baltimore.
We were able to tentatively agree on some technical clean-up language, an increase in bilingual pay, standardization of rights for our bargaining team, and improvements to some language regarding chronic illness.
Our AFSCME team offered counters on a number of topics, including the state’s position on wages and pay increases. And we rejected language that would have limited the rights of those who work in the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, who we organized last year.
The State provided a number of counters to our proposals, including union credentials, number of chief stewards, leave for booster shots, converting contractual employees, and Weingarten rights.
We will hold our next negotiation session on Wednesday, November 1 at State Center in Baltimore. Don’t forget to wear GREEN to support your bargaining team that day!
Take Action
On Wednesday, November 29 at 7 PM, join us for our November State Bargaining Town Hall that will take place via Zoom. We’ll be sharing more updates about how bargaining with the State has been going and what actions we will need to take. You can register here.
In addition to the virtual November town hall, you can join us in taking the following actions:
- Wear GREEN on bargaining days! Snap a photo of your coworkers and you wearing your AFSCME GREEN, and send your photo to info@afscmemd.org! We’ll be posting these photos on our social media.
- Post these graphics on your social media to share with your networks about what we’re fighting for! There are different image options you can use as your profile picture, your cover photo, or even your Facebook and Instagram stories!
- And if you’d like to get more involved by joining our Member Action Team or if you want more information about upcoming opportunities during the Legislative Session, let us know here.
It will take all of us paying attention, staying informed, and getting involved to win the contract we deserve!
—-
NOTE: Access to bargaining information is limited to bargaining unit employees (units A, B, C, D, F, and H). Be aware that details of proposals, counterproposals, and related discussions in closed collective bargaining sessions are private and confidential communications protected from unilateral public disclosure during collective bargaining negotiations under SPP § 3-501(e). Such details should not be made public while collective bargaining negotiations are taking place. The above materials in this post include details and therefore should not be circulated to the public or publicly.