The locals represented at the meeting were the Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees (BCFPE), AFT Healthcare MD (AFTHCMD), and the City Union of Baltimore (CUB). Leaders from those locals discussed the possibility of an AFT-Maryland COPE fund to address the numerous requests the state federation gets for campaign contributions. While leaders promised to take that idea back to their executive boards, one of the more interesting presentations was the proposal of an AFT-Maryland political hub.
The hub would be a one stop shop where members can find important information on how to find out who their federal, state, and local legislators are, information about candidates in upcoming elections, information about the AFL-CIO and AFT-Maryland's endorsement processes as well as information for phone banking and door knocking volunteer opportunities. This space would allow members to be kept abreast of the political suggestions of their locals.
The meeting was productive and set the course for action in 2020. All decisions will ultimately be decided by the AFT-Maryland executive board, but recommendations from the political committee are helpful to guide the board in their decision making.
2019-06-06