Last week, we had a bargaining session with the State on Wednesday, November 29. Afterwards, we held our November State Bargaining Town Hall to recap how bargaining sessions have been going and what actions we need to take to win the contract we deserve.
If you missed the town hall, you can watch a recording of the town hall below.
During the town hall, we covered the following topics and where we are at with each:
| Topic | AFSCME Proposal | Management’s Proposal |
| Wages | Step and COLA for all (7%) + additional step for those with 5 or more years of service. | 2% and a step increase for everyone (equal to 4.4%) |
| Holiday Pay | Double pay for holiday or pre-scheduled holiday work | No counter yet. |
| Bilingual Pay | Increasing the amount for bilingual pay to $75 per pay. | Agreed upon. |
| Shift Differential | Increase to $4 for shift differential pay (up from current rate of $0.625 an hour) | Increase to $1 for shift differential pay (up from current rate of $0.625 an hour) |
| Health and Safety | We proposed language to address unsafe indoor and outdoor air quality and heat safety. We asked for statewide notifications to be sent out on days with dangerous heat indexes or air quality and for certain safety protocols to be followed on days where the heat index is above 80 degrees and above 100 degrees. | No counter yet. |
| Leave | Language to expand and clarify current bereavement leave. Vaccination leave for 2 hours/year to receive flu or COVID vaccination. Winning back COVID leave | No agreements on expanding bereavement leave or standardizing COVID protocol. Vaccination leave: agreed upon |
| Telework | We have bargained policy and are waiting for management’s list of positions eligible for telework and any exceptions. | State has committed to giving us a list of positions by end of year |
| Release time for union work/chief stewards | We proposed increased amount of leave time for union trainings/work and creating a chief shop steward position to assist with upholding the contract; current ask is for a total of 17 chief stewards | Agreed to increase release time for union work. Countered with three chief steward positions. |
| Union Representation Rights (Weingarten Rights) | Proposal to add union representation rights language in contract | Management’s proposed language does not specify any consequences for the manager for failing to inform an employee of their rights. |
| Contractual Employees | State must stop hiring contractual employees for most bargaining unit positions. Convert majority of contractual employees doing AFSCME work to state positions over the next 3 years. | They agreed that state employees should be permanent. State wants to move this topic to a labor management committee (LMC) meeting held sometime before July 1, 2024. |
| OPD-specific proposal | AFSCME team fully rejected proposal. | Management proposed limiting OPD worker rights. (Grievance representation, leave etc.) |
| Other Topics | Privacy and restrictions on AI, Cyber monitoring etc., binding arbitration proposal | No response yet. |
| Healthcare and Retirement | We do not bargain on these topics but can lobby on these in the legislative session. | |
TAKE ACTION!
We need every state employee to send a letter to Governor Wes Moore! The wage proposal that the State has offered is NOT ENOUGH. Take 2 minutes to send a letter to his administration, and let them know that state workers deserve a fair and comprehensive wage proposal. Without this, state jobs will continue to go unfilled, we won’t have enough people to carry out our public services, and our communities will ultimately be the ones who are hurt.
We will hold our next negotiation session on Wednesday, December 6 at the AFSCME Maryland offices in Baltimore. Don’t forget to wear GREEN to support your bargaining team that day!
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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.