AFSCME Members Fight to Protect Jobs, Pay Raises in Maryland, Missouri

by Kyle Weidleman  |  May 21, 2012

The budget passed by the Maryland General Assembly during a special session called by Gov. O’Malley saved more than 500 state jobs and includes a pay raise for every AFSCME member who works for the state or university system. (Photo by Edward Kimmel)

Through hard bargaining and grassroots legislative activism AFSCME members in Maryland and Missouri were able to secure pay raises in their respective state budgets for the upcoming fiscal year.

In Maryland, a “doomsday” all-spending cuts budget was overturned by state legislators as AFSCME members from across Maryland successfully lobbied lawmakers to pass a budget that included new revenues to pay for an across-the-board pay raise and to save more than 500 jobs. The budget package required a special session called by Gov. Martin O’Malley after the legislature failed to approve a revenue package during the regular session that ended in April.

In Missouri, AFSCME Council 72 successfully bargained for a 2 percent pay raise for all state workers making $70,000 or less — approximately 97 percent of the total state workforce. After the state House Budget Committee released the plan that funded the collectively bargained pay increase, AFSCME members in the Show Me State followed up with aggressive lobbying at the state capitol to ensure the measure stayed intact.

AFSCME members across the country have been working proactively to encourage state lawmakers — at the bargaining table and through legislative lobbying efforts — to protect public services, workplace rights and retirement security. Although there is still much to do, AFSCME members in Maryland and Missouri show that lawmakers still respond to grassroots pressure.