Political Action Means Elected Official Engagement
On May 20 leaders from AFSCME Local 1072 virtually sat down with the Senator and Delegates from Maryland District 22 (Prince George’s County) to discuss ongoing health and safety issues at the University of Maryland-College Park campus.
Local 1072 Board members Todd Holden, Jeff Fiory, Sally Davies and Celina Sargusingh, activist Rebecca Wilson and staff laid out the concerns, highlighting the lack of safety protocols, PPE and plans for campus staff, faculty and students.
Of immediate concern is the university’s decision to have Memorial Day weekend be a “move-out” weekend for students and their families, without ANY guidelines nor input from campus employees that will be engaging with those students and families (whether they want to or not!). In response Local 1072 submitted a “demand to bargain” to the university over the following issues:
- Campus-wide, mandatory screening procedures that match or exceed those used in other State facilities, including temperature checks and denial of entry to those who fail screening
- COVID-19 testing for all AFSCME-represented workers
- An abundant supply of PPE and cleaning supplies
- COVID-19-specific training on awareness, PPE-usage, cleaning procedures and chemical safety for all AFSCME-represented employees
- Timely, multilingual communications distributed by a variety of media so that all AFSCME-represented employees receive information relevant to their working conditions equitably.
District 22 elected officials heard the concerns of AFSCME members and requested a breakdown of specific ways that they could share with the entire Prince George’s County Delegation, to result in a letter from the entire Delegation to the University of Maryland-College Park administration emphasizing these concerns and pushing for meetings with true campus decisionmakers to address the issues raised.
Local 1072 will continue to stand up for thier membership, and demand the respect and dignity deserved of every hardworking higher education employee.
