The folks who keep the town of Ocean City, Md., running—beach sweepers, boardwalk crews, bus drivers, recreation staff, clerks, trash collectors and more—just want to be heard. Thus far, they’ve made their voices clear enough to win a place on November’s ballot, where voters will decide whether city general staff should have the right to collective bargaining.
The Maryland Senate has voted to shift of some of the cost of teacher pensions to Baltimore City and the state’s counties as part of an efforts to avoid more than $500 million in so-called Doomsday budget cuts originally scheduled to take effect on July 1.
The House voted 86-51 for the that will begin splitting teacher pension costs between the state and local jurisdictions over the next four years. In the Senate, the vote on the measure that included the teacher pension shift was 33-13.
AFT-Maryland and its affiliate, the Baltimore Teachers Union, have long opposed shifting the cost of pensions to local governments. Many local jurisdictions, such as the City of Baltimore, already suffer from budget deficits.
Voting is a big topic this year, but here’s one vote you don’t have to wait until November to cast—vote now for your favorite AFT Everyday Hero for 2012!
One of our own (BCFPE, AFT-Maryland, AFL-CIO and a Baltimore County Government Employee/Volunteer) HAS MADE IT TO THE SEMI-FINALISTS ROUND!
VOTE FOR MICHAEL MORRIS – 2012 AFT PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DIVISION EVERYDAY HERO
YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
Last night the latest local of AFT-Maryland voted to approve their constitution. The process of electing an executive board will now begin. To read the whole constitution, click on title.
Got a question for AFT-Maryland? Click here to gain access to some of the questions that are most asked of our staffers.
Drive wants to collect 1,000 books!