| AFSCME Maryland |
AFSCME members will rally in Annapolis on Monday March 15th at 6 PM. Use your voice to protect state services and stand up for rights as a state employee! Buses will traveling to Annapolis from locations around the state; to sign up to attend, call 410-837-3055. Join AFSCME Maryland for Lobby Nights in Annapolis. This is your opportunity to speak to your legislators about the issues you care about. Review the enclosed schedule to see when your Local will be in Annapolis (you can print your own pdf copy as well). Call 410-547-1515 for more information. 
Due to extenuating circumstances the dates for the Annual Leadership Conference have changed. Originally it was scheduled for November 6-7, 2009, but has been rescheduled to December 4-5, 2009. The location remains the same - National Labor College, Silver Spring, MD. Room rates are: $154 per /night (flat rate) or $77 per night if they are shared (must have someone to share room to get this rate!) You can reach the NLC at (301) 431-6400. If you registered previously and still plan to attend, no further action is necessary to reserve your space. On the other hand, if you are unable to attend because of the new dates, please contact our office to remove your name from our registry. If you have further questions concerning this matter, please feel free to contact our Office Manager, Greta Jackson at 410-547-1515. We need your help today to keep pension benefits from being cut. Most pension and retirement plans for state employees are tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) so that as prices rose, so did the pension benefit. This year, for the first time in decades, we may be facing a negative CPI because of the bad economy. A negative CPI will force the Retirement Board in Annapolis to reduce pension benefits. There is a way to avoid this potential disaster for the fund, but we need your help. The Joint Committee on Pensions will be meeting soon to consider emergency legislation that would stop cuts to the pension benefit. Please act today and make your voice heard on this critical issue. 
Maryland is in the midst of a national economic recession worse than any in over 50 years. Just a few months into this budget year, over $400 million was cut from the budget, and it is still $300 million short. The budget for next year is already predicted to have a shortfall of over $1 billion. You know how cuts have hurt the services that you provide better than anyone. Tell us your story about what the budget cuts have meant to the clients, inmates, youth, offenders, customers, or the public that your serve. Tell us your story. 
As state employees on the front lines every day, you know what services the people of Maryland need, and the best way to provide them. You know the most efficient way to do the job, and the places where the state could save money. Eliminating wasteful spending and making the state run better will help avoid budget cuts in the future, and help keep state employees from suffering the hardships of furloughs and layoffs. We've received great suggestions already, you can read them here. Send in your ideas on how the state can save money today! AFSCME Maryland Director Patrick Moran is asking for suggestions to find savings in the state budget so that we can save state employees' jobs. The Governor has made it known that more cuts for state employees are part of his plan for August. We are anticipating the potential for thousands of jobs to be at risk, and are doing all we can to stop layoffs. The Governor has asked for suggestions from the public on ways to save money in the state budget. I know you have ideas on ways to save the state money. Send in your ideas, and I’ll make sure your suggestions are passed along to Governor O’Malley. Share your best idea to save money in Maryland and help save state jobs. Patrick Moran, Director of AFSCME Maryland, sent the following message to AFSMCE members and supporters in response to yesterday's budget cuts: Attend the Maryland State Fair Get special tickets to attend the Maryland State Fair on Friday, August 28 from noon-closing. The special tickets are $15.00 per person, and include admission, a ride wristband, and one additional free admission. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact: AFL-CIO Day at the Races On Saturday, August 29, the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO Unions will sponsor a Day at the Races at Timonium Racetrack. Tickets are $6.00 per person, normally $8.00 and will admit one person into the Maryland State Fair and/or the Timonium Racetrack. Proceeds from this event AFL-CIO Community Services of Central Maryland. Timonium Race Track is home to Live Thoroughbred Horseracing beginning Friday, August 28 through Sunday August 30 and Friday, September 4 through Monday, September 7. Post time is 1:00 PM each day. For more information and to order tickets, call 410-242-1300. Local union members are invited to "staff" the AFL-CIO booth at the Maryland State Fair. Show your support by signing up for a shift. Each day is divided into two six0hour shifts, 10 AM to 4 PM and 4 PM to 10 PM. Sign up for one shift or take the whole day! We will be promoting: We will also conduct voter registration. For more information and to sign up for a shift, contact: This month, health care proposals will be working their way through the Senate and the House, and we need to make sure the final legislation provides:
Click here to talk to the offices of Senator Mikulski and Senator Cardin 
AFSCME Maryland must lead the fight for health care reform. Once we achieve a system that controls costs and covers everyone, then we can turn our full efforts on winning better wages for our members. Thursday June 25, 2009 Capitol Hill Rally followed by visits to Congressional offices Call us at 410-547-1515 for more information and to sign up to attend.
Attend the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Services
AFSCME International Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy will be the keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Services on April 17, 2009 at Wayland Baptist Church in Baltimore, MD. Click here for more information. 
Public employees gathered in Annapolis Monday evening March 23, to call on legislators to "Protect Public Services" in the wake of potentially severe budget cuts. Correctional facilities, foster care, public health facilities, juvenile services, and other agencies face significant cutbacks, putting Maryland’s public health and safety, and at-risk children in jeopardy. According to AFSCME MD Director, Patrick Moran who spoke at the rally, "State employees make neighborhoods safe, ensure our roads and airports are secure and operating, and provide countless direct social services and essential hands-on health services. Yet they continually work in chronically understaffed agencies and struggle with high caseloads that have translated into reduced services to our communities." 
Join other AFSCME Members at the AFL-CIO Rally in Annapolis March 23rd at 6 PM. Protect Public Services Click here for more information.
Layoffs? Furloughs? Benefit cuts? You can do something about it!
Add Your Voice to Our Fight for State and Higher Education Employees!
¨ We saved our health insurance in collective bargaining
Our AFSCME bargaining team said NO when the State proposed to cut our health care benefits and to raise its cost to state employees. We saved employees an average of $1000 a year in proposed new out of pocket expenses.
We got Governor O’Malley to back off from the cuts.
¨ We pushed back against furloughs – and won a reduction in days.
We don’t like or approve of Furlough days, but now they are a fact for us, and they could have been much worse. Our AFSCME team pushed the State to cut the number of required furlough days. While we didn’t succeed in stopping them altogether, our team convinced the state to cut furlough days to just two for most state workers with a “sliding scale” for higher-paid employees.
¨ Now Gov. O’Malley Wants to Lay Off State Employees – Time to Speak Out!
Nearly 700 state employees are now targeted for layoffs by the Governor. It’s time to make it clear that we won’t stand for unnecessary layoffs.
We won’t stand for adding state workers to the unemployment roles at great cost to our communities!
With hard work, AFSCME’s bargaining team succeeding in making sure this year’s budget does not cut state employee benefits. HOWEVER, the legislature’s Blue Ribbon Commission to Study Retiree Health Care Funding Options is talking about cutting benefits in order to reduce health care costs to the state. Although the final report of the committee is not due until December, 2009, they committee is already discussing benefit cuts to health care and even the retirement programs to save money. Contact the legislative members of the Blue Ribbon Commission. Urge them to maintain health and retirement benefits in order to keep a productive work force. Tell them why health benefits are important to you!
State and Higher Ed Employees Wearing Bull’s Eye. Get Ready for Legislative Session January 14 to April 13
The state budget will be THE TOPIC this session with a predicted budget shortfall of over $2 billion. AFSCME has already had to fight to drop the number of furlough days. But now they're a fact for state and higher education employees. Our state bargaining team is holding the line against making health insurance costlier to employees -- for the moment. What's next? With personnel and benefits as a huge portion of the budget, we have a bull’s eye right on our backs.
What can you do? -Join our “Get Active” email list here to stay updated and participate electronically -Come to Annapolis – Our Lobby night schedule is here. -Click here for detailed map, etc. -Now, beginning on January 27th, AFSCME is also holding AFSCME lobby days every Tuesday at 8 AM in the Legislative Service Cafeteria. -Monitor this web page for periodic updates
To contact legislators, find out the status of any bill, or even to find out who your legislators are, go to the General Assembly Web Page: http://mlis.state.md.us/
Remember, the job you save, may be your own!
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