All across Baltimore, students and families alike were revved up for the start of the 2015-16 school year. The Baltimore Teachers Union was excited to participate in the 10th Annual Back to School Give-A-Way and rally at Warwick Park in West Baltimore on Saturday, August 29th. The event featured high profile city officials including States' Attorney Marilyn Mosby, her husband (and City Councilman) Nick Mosby, as well as State Senator Joan Carter-Conway. The event was hosted by Bilal Ali Productions and Bridges & Son's Grocery.

The union was able to touch different parts of the community. We did

Continuing with AFT efforts to promote democracy and add more voices to the political process locally and nationally, AFT-Maryland Political Coordinator Todd Reynolds led a voter registration drive Sunday August 16th at Macedonia Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md. The drive was but a small example of the "Reclaim Baltimore" initiative introduced at the 2015 AFT-Maryland Convention.

The initiative focused on revitalizing the city in the wake of the unrest after the Freddie Gray death. One aspect was to increase citizen participation in the political process. With a Presidential, Senate, Mayoral &

Barry Glassman, Harford County Executive, signed union contracts with Maryland Classified Employees Association (MCEA) and AFSCME. MCEA Union officials present for the signing were chapter president William Sullivan, VP Amanda Weyant, secretary Michael Hiob, treasurer Ray Crosby, and Michael Keeney, MCEA staff representative.

The contracts allow for qualified county employees to receive a $1,000 merit raise in 2016. The County Executive said that, “these increases are fully funded through cost-savings identified by my administration in our budget for the fiscal year 2016.”  The new budget will