Maryland Professional Employees Council (MPEC) hosted two lunch and learns at the Glen Burnie MVA and the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulations. Shop stewards Davene Johnson (Glen Burnie) and Michelle Roberts (DLLR) did a great job turning out members to hear what AFT-Maryland organizer Aaron Ray had to share.
A handful of important items:
A push to raise the state's minimum teacher salary has become a bipartisan effort, but it appears to not be enough to ensure a key piece of Gov. Tom Wolf's budget proposal will make it into the final version of the spending document.
Three UHP employees recently volunteered in the Virgin Islands, helping provide hearing and vision screenings for more than 10,000 public school children in areas still recovering from the 2017 hurricanes.
The General Assembly adjourned the 2019 legislative session sine die at midnight on Wednesday, June 5th. The so-called "long session" was a very successful one for working families and the Labor movement. After years of austerity budgets and dwindling pro-worker majorities, Labor advocates were able to take advantage of the 2018 election results and pass major legislation including HB 5004 which raises the minimum wage to $15 per hour and SB 1 which enacts a paid family and medical leave insurance program.
HB 6935, legislation giving public sector unions and public sector workers new protections in the wake of last summer's U.S. Supreme Court's Janus v. AFSCME decision, died in the Senate.
Read more in this recap from the Connecticut AFL-CIO.
Click here for this week's Update
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In This Issue:
1) Pushing back against attack on pensions
2) NTU Legal Update
3) Member Benefits
And Much More
Click Here to read some statements from our nominees of the 2019 WFLASSP Officer Election!
AFT-Maryland convened the state federation’s political committee to discuss and prepare for the upcoming 2020 elections. In compliance with all federal labor laws, no members’ dues are used for electoral politics.
The 2019 cohort of teachers that made up the Baltimore Teachers Union Teacher Leaders Program displayed their work before an audience of peers and supporters at their closing exercise. The Teacher Leader program is funded by a grant from AFT. It allows participants to identify an educational obstacle, and during the course of the eight-month program, they research solutions to the problem.
