A series of bills before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee could, if passed, delay the use of the new student achievement test, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.
AFT-Maryland affiliates traveled to Annapolis, Maryland February 24th to meet with state legislators and voice opposition to Governor O’Malley’s proposed cuts to the state’s contribution to state employee pension plan.
The governor has proposed that the state’s promised $300 million per year contribution to state worker pension plans be cut by $100 million. AFT-Maryland affiliates have argued that the cuts jeopardize the financial standing of the state and could result in reduced payments for retired state workers.
AFT Healthcare-Maryland President Debra Perry submitted testimony in favor of Senate Bill 483 February 20th. That bill proposes additional protections for workers in healthcare facilities. Perry’s testimony documented numerous incidents of violence that had befallen healthcare workers in state facilities and requested that legislators pass the bill SB 483.
The bill calls for the creation of a committee to study workplace violence prevention measures and the establishment of specific procedures that greatly reduce the opportunities for a violent incident to occur in state healthcare facilities.
While the official percentage of unionized workers in America is cited as 11.3 percent, the AFL-CIO says that the labor movement is much larger than that percentage reflects.
That’s right. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has submitted a budget that calls for reducing the state’s contribution to the pension plan by $100 million dollars a year.
That’s not fair! Click here to tell your legislators to vote against cutting the state's contribution to the pension fund.
Two years ago, that state required you to increase your contribution to the employee pension fund. In return, the legislature promised to contribute $300 million per year to that fund. Now, Governor O’Malley is breaking that promise. There are several problems with the governor’s proposal:
We know that AFT members are heroes who are reclaiming the promise every day, and we want to hear about them!