AFT-Maryland President Kenya Campbell joined the NAACP Maryland State Conference for their 81st Annual Convention to discuss the future of labor for Black workers. President Campbell spoke on the panel representing the nearly 20,000 public employees across the state of Maryland that AFT-Maryland local affiliates represent in collective bargaining. The panel included leaders from a number of private and public labor organizations all discussing ways to ensure Black workers are included in the U.S. and Maryland’s rebuilding plan.

Consistent throughout the conversation was how labor organizations

State workers can think of 2.5 billion reasons to take to the streets and demand Governor Hogan recognize them as the heroes they are. That 2.5 billion figure represents the surplus to the Maryland state budget. The pandemic threatened the economic coffers of the state, but thanks to federal investment and collective sacrifice, Maryland was able to stave off the worst damages and now finds itself in position to move forward with a sunnier economic forecast.

The state workforce hasn’t shared in the sunny forecast in the same way. State employees across a number of agencies never received Covid

“Every day, you don’t know what you’re going to be dealing with and your plans are always being upended by circumstances in the park.” That’s how MPEC Local 6197 member Chris Czarra described his experience working as a park ranger in Maryland state parks. Czarra’s testimony to the Maryland State Parks Investment Commission dramatized what a day in the life of Maryland park rangers looks like. Czarra’s testimony continues the union’s efforts for fair wages, greater working conditions, and overall better treatment for Maryland park rangers. 

Earlier this summer, park rangers and MPEC members and