Things are off and rolling in Annapolis for the 2020 Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session. In an effort to get the state federation on one accord, AFT-Maryland’s Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Denise Riley, chaired the year’s first legislative committee meeting. Committee members in attendance came from the state federation’s two state employee locals MPEC and AFT Healthcare-Maryland.

Riley laid out the bills that will be on the state federation’s radar this session, including revenue expansion bills that will close tax loopholes for millionaires and billionaires, as well

AFT-Maryland offered this statement of solidarity with state employees that have yet to receive the promised 1% COLA increase. Click to read the full press statement.

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Join AFT-Maryland and our members from the BTU, CUB, MCEA, MPEC, MSDFSA, AFT Healthcare-Maryland, BCFPE, and BCFPHN as we travel to Annapolis to talk with our representatives about our issues in the 2020 Legislative Session.

Buses will depart from AFT-Maryland, 5800 Metro Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215 at 5:15 p.m. Sandwiches and soft drinks to be provided.

RSVP by Jan. 23rd to RESERVE YOUR SEAT or sign up for training by contacting AFT-Maryland Political Coordinator Todd Reynolds at treynolds@aftmd.org.

Click here to download event flyer.

2020 promises to be an important year for AFT-Maryland locals, politically. The most noteworthy election will be for President of the United States, however there are a number of other elections that will be on the radar for Maryland public sector unions. In anticipation of the upcoming elections, AFT-Maryland’s political committee gathered for their December monthly meeting. The meeting was attended by members from the Baltimore Teachers Union and the City Union of Baltimore.

AFT-Maryland’s Political Coordinator Todd Reynolds gave an overview of Baltimore City Council races and explained the

Members from the unions that make up AFT-Maryland joined with sisters and brothers of the AFL-CIO to pack boxes for union and community families in need this holiday season. The Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO annually packs boxes of food and provides toys for families of union members and to the greater Baltimore community. AFT-Maryland members worked side by side with members from across the region and in partnership with the United Way of Baltimore to help ensure that families would not go without this holiday season.

Over two days, members packed groceries in boxes and wrapped toys for

​​More than 45 million US workers owe $1.6 trillion dollars in student loans, with ~93% of it owed to the US Department of Education. Workers are going into more debt to finance their education, and more workers are defaulting on those loans because wages aren’t rising to keep up with the costs. The system is broken!

There’s good news. AFT, our National union, has developed Student Debt Clinics that will:

• Educate you on the national student debt crisis.
• Show you how to lower your payments, sometimes to $0, through enrolling in income-driven repayment programs.
• Teach you how to meet the