On a Roll in Maryland

Activists are blitzing college campuses statewide after employees win collective bargaining.

By Jimmie Turner

In less than three months, more than 4,100 workers at 11 Maryland colleges and universities have voted to join AFSCME. In roughly twice that many elections, campus employees — responding to the efforts of organizing committees and other activists — have consistently gone Green. And the prospect is for even more victories at the state's remaining institutions of higher learning.

The feat is especially remarkable considering that the college locations stretch from the southern-most tip of the state, on the Chesapeake Bay, to the mountains near the West Virginia border. But the workers were plenty pumped up for the task: They had been struggling for years to gain collective bargaining rights.

"The workers seem to be receptive to having the union, and the union that they want is AFSCME because they're aware of our reputation as being a strong advocate fighting for their rights and benefits," says Council 92 Exec. Director Zach Ramsey. "We're also developing a plan to internally organize another 17,000 workers."

So the battle now is to build an effective union by taking the all-important next step — winning a first contract.

Political football

"We're going back to our roots to continue the work of the union." That's what Sally Davies, then the president of Local 1072 (Council 92), said last year after the Maryland House of Delegates approved a collective bargaining bill for 9,000 employees at college campuses across the state.

For 20 years, although workers belonged to the union, they had no voice in their own workplace. Carol Proctor, a business services specialist from the University of Maryland's College Park campus says working under such conditions was extremely trying. "We were just doomed on everything we were trying to do without collective bargaining."

Righting that very basic wrong was a frustrating process. For example, in the 1999 session of the General Assembly, university employees — side-swiped by a filibuster — were excluded from a measure that gave negotiating power to other state workers. In 2000, legislators rejected another bill that would have established bargaining rights.

But AFSCME's activists refused to be ignored. For three years, they traveled en masse to the capitol in Annapolis to lobby representatives on Monday nights during assembly sessions. In addition, workers testified before committees and inundated lawmakers with e-mails, letters and phone calls until their demands were met.

No time to waste

Last summer, members from 15 of the state's largest institutions of higher education embarked on an organizing campaign that, to date, has been successful at 11 sites. In the elections, exempt and non-exempt workers were voting for AFSCME or a rival union.

Last November, Frostburg State University got the victory parade started when 300 employees chose AFSCME over the Maryland Classified Employees Association, making it the first college in the state to establish collective bargaining. Said Davies, who went on to become Council 92's president: "Frostburg's vote will help show the way to building a better workplace and a more secure livelihood for Maryland college and university staff."

At each of the other campuses, as at Frostburg, several employees took it upon themselves to build a union. Through house calls, meetings and worksite visits, they were able to interact, one on one, with their co-workers.

At St. Mary's College, Jack Short drew on his union experience growing up in the coal-mining region of West Virginia. There, miners constitute a major force in the labor movement. "I knew that the union would be able to help a lot of people here, too."

Short, a program analyst, helped coordinate weekly meetings during the lunch hour to inform his counterparts on the benefits of collective bargaining. Representatives of the competing union attended only one meeting. After the exempt and non-exempt units voted heavily in favor of AFSCME, Short says, "We knew that we had on our side a union that could stand up to management."

Misguided authority

In Maryland, the Board of Regents has been charged with managing the schools. The system doesn't bode well for employees because university presidents have the power to change any rule or policy on a whim. As Linda Vallandingham, a fiscal associate at St. Mary's, puts it: "Absolute power is corrupt."

The list of grievances is as long as the Declaration of Independence. For example, workers at College Park had their weekly hours increased from 35-1/2 to 40, with no additional pay. At St. Mary's, they've gone years without cost-of-living adjustments to which they are entitled.

At Bowie State University, health and safety is a paramount issue. Theresa Butler, an administrative assistant in the physical education department, describes a horrifying reptile and critter problem. "Last year alone," she says, "workers found three or four huge snakes in our office. Some of the snakes left babies. They were probably there because of all the rodents."

Across campus at the library, Donald Thompson Myers, a data-processing operating manager, has serious health problems. He produced for a reporter a copy of a doctor's statement — front and back — that shows he's affected by almost every allergen under the sun.

Thompson was fired from his job at Baltimore's Coppin State College (where 150 members also organized success-fully) a few years back. The reason: He complained about excessive amounts of mold and mildew spores, as well as lack of ventilation. "In one year, I caught the flu and pneumonia twice."

Hundreds of others have problems with administrators. But by relating their own experiences as employees, members of the organizing committees have been instrumental in leading co-workers toward unionization. Says Thompson of his organizing efforts: "I didn't have anything to lose. I've been waiting a long time for collective bargaining."

Time to negotiate

"Woo-hoo!" shouted College Park's Suzie Owens after her unit elected to form a union with AFSCME. "We were finally getting some backing to get the administration to respond to what we need," she recalls.

Owen's excitement subsided when she thought about the next challenge: fighting for a first contract. The data processing specialist remembers saying, "Oh, my God! We've got so much more to do. The battle lines have been drawn."

Says Bowie's Myers of the pending first-contract negotiations: "It's going to be like pulling tiger teeth because our administration is not pro-union."

But the workers won't be sitting at the table unarmed, figuratively speaking. Since each school will negotiate its own agreement, Contract Action Teams (CATs) have been established on every campus. The units — made up of 10 to 15 percent of the workforce — are separate from the bargaining team. Based on the principles of organizing, CATs are being used to stay in touch with employees and keep them informed on contract talks — as well as to mobilize workers to demonstrate support for contract goals.

Owens notes that administrators now realize that workers are united, which should aid the union during collective bargaining. The employees are in a battle with College Park officials. When administrators recommended doubling campus-parking fees, the staff — with strong student support — launched an anti-parking-ticket campaign. The event drew campus-wide attention, forcing a halt to the proposal.

"It gave everyone a chance to see how solidarity works," says Owens. "We're letting management know that we're not going to stand for this."

Born to lead

The common characteristic among organizing committee members is that they are selfless people. Sure, a number of them have suffered through years of policies and rules shoved down their throats. But more appalling to them was the fear and intimidation inflicted upon their counterparts. When the opportunity presented itself to create a voice at work, the committee members got others to create one.

"I just felt in my heart that it was the right thing to do," says St. Mary's Vallandingham. "There's hope for change."

Bowie State's Butler agrees. "I'm not afraid of management," she says. "They can put me in the worst office; they can hold back my promotions. I'm concerned about all of us, and I'm fighting to see that collective bargaining works for everyone."

She recalls floating on cloud nine when the workers voted for AFSCME. "I was walking around saying, ‘Our voice will be heard at last.'" And, at last, it's being heard, all across the state.