Council 3 Updates

Two years ago, Elisha Mack took a job at the Spring Grove Hospital Center as a Security Attendant Supervisor, seeing the opportunity as a promotion and the chance to be in a new environment after n

The 2024 Maryland Legislative Session concluded at midnight on Monday, April 8, and our union has a lot to celebrate!

For the first time, our contract covering 20,000 state employees in Units A, B, C, D, F, and H contains language allowing us to have five Chief Stewards!

On Monday, January 31st, AFSCME Council 3’s bargaining team and a team of third-party observers completed the vote count to ratify AFSCME’s latest Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), including almost 12% in raises. Members of all six bargaining units (A, B, C, D, F and H) voted overwhelmingly to pass this agreement and secure our raises! This agreement will benefit our 20,000 plus bargaining unit members and thousands of other public employees in Maryland as well as their families.

AFSCME Council 3 recently announced we had reached a new tentative agreement with the Hogan Administration. In this agreement, our union secured almost 12% in increases for 2021-2023, you can read the breakdown on the agreement here. We urge all members to vote yes to secure these increases. All increases that will go into effect upon ratification.

Late on the evening of Friday, December 31st, 2021, AFSCME Council 3’s bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with the Hogan Administration for a new contract after months of difficult bargaining. This agreement provides for almost 12% in raises to the 20,000 members of AFSCME Council 3’s bargaining units.

After months of organizing and pushing through tough negotiations, we have secured almost 12% in raises between January 2022 and July 2023. AFSCME bargaining unit members will win:

​On Monday, January 3, 2022, State offices and facilities in the counties listed below will be closed from 6 a.m. to 6:00 pm.  Emergency Essential Employees should report as scheduled.  Non-emergency essential employees, who are required to report to the office or a worksite to work, should remain home.  Employees who are authorized and assigned to telework from home should work at home as scheduled unless leave is granted.  Home offices are unaffected by the closure.

The wins continue for University System of Maryland (USM) staff- last night Governor Hogan's veto of Senate Bill 9 was overridden. Late last week, AFSCME also won our fight to increase the $15 minimum wage for all USM staff. Read more about our victory here.

AFSCME Council 3 members are proud to declare victory in our fight to raise the minimum wage for all workers at the University System of Maryland (USM) to $15/hr. Yesterday, representatives from the USM confirmed that this increase would go into effect in January of 2022 after our union campaign across Maryland. When we fight, we win!

AFSCME Council 3 represents approximately 30,000 state and higher education employees across Maryland. Together, our union is a strong voice during the Maryland General Session because we work year-round to engage legislators and identify ways to strengthen Maryland's laws for all working people. 

Last week, AFSCME Council 3 and the State of Maryland had another hearing about the Emergency Pay Grievance. As discussed in the previous update, management has a team of Assistant Attorney Generals working to defeat this grievance.