For Immediate Release: January 1, 2022
The AFSCME bargaining team has voted to support the ratification of this agreement which is contingent on a vote of its 20,000 State employee members.
On December 31st, 2021, members of AFSCME Council 3’s bargaining reached a tentative agreement with the Hogan Administration for a new contract after months of difficult bargaining. The agreement provides for almost 12% in raises to 20,000 frontline workers including social workers, nurses, direct care assistants, correctional officers, highway workers, juvenile service workers, case managers, and many others. AFSCME was also able to secure additional COVID response pay and leave at the 11th hour of negotiations for its members battling COVID on the frontlines. The raises consist of a combination of step advancements that have long been deferred by the administration and cost-of-living adjustments that are crucial to keeping State employees’ families secure and stable.
This bargaining continues a trend of the Hogan administration’s willingness to be evasive, stall or skirt the rule of law and reject commonsense safety measures. Governor Hogan rejected proposals by our union to provide KN95 or N95 masks to all state employees during the pandemic. His team also refused to instate a mask mandate and screening procedures in state buildings. These measures would protect state employees and the public.
Governor Hogan refused to address the state’s ongoing staffing crisis adequately, as the State is short over 5,000 employees. Just last weekend Juveniles temporarily took over the Cheltenham Youth Facility and order was only restored after intervention from the Maryland State Police. Due to the staffing crisis DJS has attempted to recruit Department of Corrections employees to work inside the DJS facilities. At our State Hospitals and Corrections facilities, COVID is once again ravaging the facilities with daily reports increasing of new positive cases. Patients at Springfield Hospital Center are being forced to isolate themselves inside the gymnasium.
AFSCME will continue to advocate to keep our members, people in the state’s care, and the public safe.
AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran said, “The Hogan Administration continues to underfund state employees and state services despite Maryland’s significant surplus. These negotiations underscore the urgent need for labor law reform to strengthen workers’ rights and ability to collectively bargain for what they deserve.”