Miami, FL
One of the biggest union election outcomes in recent years was the coalition campaign by several AFL-CIO affiliates--AFSCME, AFT and the Teamsters--for representation rights for some 35,000 state employees in Maryland. These rights were won under the provisions of an Executive Order issued by Governor Parris Glendening in May 1996. However, this Executive Order could not apply to all state employees, nor could it establish provisions that require legislation--such as agency shop.
Governor Glendening has now introduced a bill to provide for comprehensive collective bargaining rights for Maryland state workers, SB 129. This extends the right to organize to thousands of additional workers and includes a provision for negotiation of agency shop so that all workers pay their fair share of the costs of representation.
Governor Glendening has continued to show his commitment to working families in Maryland by this and other important initiatives. For these reasons, working families in Maryland and numerous unions gave him extraordinary assistance in his recent re-election campaign.
The AFL-CIO urges its affiliates to work for the passage of this extension of bargaining rights by educating union members in Maryland on this important issue, by mobilizing working families to contact their state representatives, and by participating in AFL-CIO-sponsored activities in Maryland.