MARYLAND
State workers take struggle to the street
By Andre
Powell
Baltimore
Maryland state social-service employees came out by the
hundreds Sept. 22 to answer the call of AFSCME Council 92 Local
112. They held a protest picket line at the state headquarters
of the Department of Human Resources in Baltimore.
Maryland state employees are in the midst of wrapping up
their first-ever collective-bargaining negotiations. AFSCME has
made many attempts to lay the groundwork to begin setting up
Labor-Management Committees with the Department of Human
Resources.
For nearly a year the department failed to respond to
letters and telephone calls requesting meetings. The LMCs are
where many issues that are germane to that particular
department will be settled, notably caseload size and social
worker training issues. While other department-level LMCs have
started discussion, Human Resources continued to ignore the
union.
In mid-summer the union decided it was time to turn up the
heat. The workers sprang into action.
Nearly 700 Maryland social-service employees from all across
the state came out for the lunchtime picket line. They came
from areas as far as the Eastern Shore and western Maryland, as
well as the suburban areas of Washington and Baltimore.
Soon after they arrived the picketers filled the sidewalks
and began marching in a line that soon ringed the entire block.
Traffic was frequently forced to stop until the picketers
cleared the way.
The signs they carried called for smaller caseloads and an
end to threats, write-ups and suspensions for not working hard
enough, fast enough or correctly enough. Others called for
proper training for social workers and more promotional
opportunities for clerical workers--who are on the lowest end
of the pay scale statewide.
The director of the Department of Human Resources watched
safely from the windows of her office; the directors of the
Social Service departments of Baltimore and Prince Georges
County came to watch on the sidewalk. The employees would not
be intimidated.
One city worker told of how she held the sign directly in
the director's face.
Human Resources' security head attempted to tell the
picketers they could not march on his sidewalk. The Local 112
president responded by telling him to "go to city hall and tell
them it's your sidewalk."
After the hour-long picket line, union members marched to a
two-hour indoor rally. There they heard from members of Local
112's collective-bargaining committee.
President Donna Edwards told the overflow crowd: "This is
not an end by any means, but a very strong beginning. You have
given your union the strength it needs to go back to the
bargaining table in a stronger position to win the rights and
respect we deserve."
Edwards told the crowd that for months the Human Resources
management would not return calls, but "yesterday the director
of DHR called five times to try to get [me] to cancel the
rally."
Many union members said the call was a day late and a dollar
short. They asked the union when it is going to call another
picket line, because they are ready to answer the call.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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