Following the election of Wes Moore to be Maryland’s 63rd Governor, AFT-Maryland President Kenya Campbell released this statement on behalf of the state federation:
AFT-Maryland
I am so happy that Maryland has made history electing the first African-American Governor, as well as the first Indian-American Lieutenant Governor, in the state’s history. The Moore-Miller team ran a campaign promising to leave no Marylander behind and we look forward to working with them to better our communities and ultimately our state.
While excited about the election of the Moore-Miller ticket, we at AFT-Maryland recognize the real work begins now. The hard work of adequately staffing our state health care facilities and keeping open facilities such as the Western Maryland Hospital Center that serves the unique needs of residents in Western Maryland. The difficult task of implementing and fully funding the Blueprint for Maryland’s future begins now. Tomorrow we face the challenge of ensuring public employees have a safe and healthy work environment, both locally and statewide as well as when our members have to work onsite. In either instance, public employees deserve a safe and healthy work environment. Now begins the work of staffing our Department of the Environment to ensure we have clean and safe drinking water as well as fully funding state agencies so those agencies can be responsive to and meet the needs of Maryland residents.
Yes, there is indeed a heavy lift ahead, but we are excited about facing the challenges before us. We can be excited knowing we have Wes Moore and Aruna Miller, two leaders committed to respecting the dignity of labor. Having the Moore-Miller administration as our partners working to tackle these challenges, improving the work experience of public employees, and thus improving the lived experience of all Marylanders, should give each of us hope. When we collaborate and work together, elected officials and labor, communities from the Eastern Shore to the mountains of western Maryland, we will indeed leave no Marylander behind.
2022-11-08