Maryland Workers Choose AFSCME
AFSCME scores big in the nation's largest union election in over six years
Baltimore, Maryland
When Andre Powell was seven years old, he had eye surgery that was paid by union benefits his parents enjoyed. "When talking about AFSCME representation to fellow co-workers, I simply pointed to my eyes and said, 'It's because of a union that I can see today,'" Powell explained.
An income maintenance specialist with the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, Powell was one of many state workers who organized among their ranks. Those efforts paid off handsomely in December as AFSCME swept all four bargaining units in the first-ever collective bargaining elections by Maryland state employees.
AFSCME now represents workers in health and human services, social and human services, public safety and security, and in labor and trades.
"The results are clear," said AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee. "State employees voted almost overwhelmingly for collective bargaining and overwhelmingly for AFSCME Maryland representation.
"Finally state employees will be able to speak with one strong voice in determining their future."
Powell, who mobilized a core of co-workers during the organizing campaign, said, "It's such a good feeling to win. The workers got pumped up and interested in not only signing up members, but also what they stood to gain with a union contract."
AFSCME leads the way. AFSCME Maryland led an intense effort to extend collective bargaining rights to state employees that culminated in an executive order by Gov. Parris Glendening (D) in May. The order covers 40,000 Maryland state employees.
Direct Care Assistant Debra Gooden, who works at the Rosewood Center in Owings Mills, also encouraged her co-workers during the campaign. "I told them that when I worked in an Ohio state hospital we had an AFSCME contract. It meant that rules were spelled out, applied to everyone and people were treated fairly. It put a stop to favoritism," said Gooden.
Heavy Equipment Mechanic Mike Hamilton noted that safety was an issue for many of the labor and trades workers. "Too often our physical safety is unnecessarily jeopardized from lousy equipment and understaffing. We are forced to put up with the indignity of discrimination, cronyism and the threat of retaliation for broadening our minds."
Speaking on behalf of public safety and security workers, corrections officer Bernard Ralph said, "With AFSCME backing all the way, there's no stopping us when it comes to dignity and justice on the job."
Business opens fire. Soon after the final votes were tallied, Maryland business interests filed suit against the governor to revoke his executive order permitting collective bargaining.
"Say the words 'collective bargaining,'" one source told The Baltimore Sun, "and these guys immediately think of higher costs for them, more administrative hoops to jump through and broader economic development problems."
AFSCME organizers are challenging business leaders to show evidence that union representation has raised the cost of living -- and doing business -- in states that recently initiated collective bargaining for state workers like Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, where the economy is booming.
Business groups got their first taste of AFSCME activism in mid-December as union members sang parodies of Christmas carols in front of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce office. When protesters entered the office to deliver gift-wrapped lumps of coal, the chamber president asked the receptionist to call the police. The receptionist -- no doubt more attuned to the spirit of the season -- refused.
By Venida RaMar Marshall
