AFT-Maryland had a busy legislative session, working to get several bills passed and signed into law. Gov. Larry Hogan held a signing ceremony for three bills that affected locals in the state federation. One was a bill placing employees at the Maryland School for the Deaf into the State Personnel Management System.
Some of education’s biggest problems come with its littlest students. At a working breakfast for paraprofessionals in prekindergarten, early childhood and Head Start, members swapped strategies for solving problems. Their discussion came during the AFT PSRP conference last week in Las Vegas, where paras from all over the country zeroed in on professional development and adequate classroom coverage.
After being snowed out in early February, leaders and selected members of AFT-Maryland locals gathered in Annapolis for their annual legislative reception. At this event, members and leaders interact with Delegates and state Senators in a light-hearted social affair. While the mood is light-hearted, business is always on the menu.
Come join with your sisters and brothers in labor for
Union Night in Annapolis
Monday, March 25th, 2019
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Meet on the Southeast Lawn
at the corner of Bladen & Calvert Streets
Annapolis MD 21401
On a March Friday, a collection of state workers who decided they no longer wanted to be just employees, but that they wanted to be leaders in their workplace, convened at the AFT-Maryland office for a steward training. This training equipped members with skills on how to engage fellow workers and managing a range of worker related issues.
When federal legislators wanted to protect public water, they knew they could call on President Antoinette Ryan-Johnson of the City Union of Baltimore. They knew she’d be the perfect ally for this fight to protect public water.
The union’s work ensuring funding for students often takes members, leadership, and staff to Annapolis to make the case before Maryland legislators. However, a special assignment to secure federal funding brought BTU PSRP Chapter Chair and AFT-Maryland Executive Board member Sandra Davis to Washington, D.C.
CUB president Antoinette Ryan-Johnson led a delegation of AFT-Maryland members and leaders in Annapolis to testify on a bill that would allow union members to write off their union dues on state income taxes. This bill would increase the number of union members in the face of the anti-worker Supreme Court Janus decision.
The AFT’s long-time advocacy for public schools has just been turbo-charged, with a sweeping, multi-pronged campaign to fund the future of American public education. Amid the continuing wave of teacher activism shining a spotlight on massive shortfalls in education investment, the Fund Our Future initiative aims to take the teachers’ megaphone into Congress, statehouses and communities nationwide.
Karen Pilecki and members of the Baltimore County Federation of Public Health Nurses testified in Annapolis before the House of Delegates Health and Government Operations committee. They are seeking a standardization of training practices and protocols across jurisdictions throughout the state.