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MCEA is gearing up for this bill and strongly supports it,
for it ensures the protection of state employees so their
hard-earned money stays in their own pockets.
HB 655 - State Government - Furloughs and Temporary
Salary Reductions. Proposing an amendment to the Maryland Constitution
that authorizes the General Assembly, for any fiscal year,
to supersede resolutions passed by the General Assembly and
reduce the compensation for a member; prohibiting a joint
resolution passed by the General Assembly from increasing
General Assembly compensation; authorizing the General Assembly
to alter the salaries of members at specified times; requiring
the Governor to convene the General Assembly in extraordinary
session under specified circumstances; etc. Hearing March
11, 2010, 1:00 p.m., Appropriations, Delegates Impallaria,
Aumann, Boteler, Costa, Dwyer, George, Jennings, Kach, Krebs,
McComas, McDonough, Schuh, Shewell, Sossi, and Stocksdale.
http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/bills/hb/hb0655f.pdf
Attention All State Employees - Remember to Watch Out for
Your Next MOU Contract!
You will be receiving your MOU contract at some point between
between July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. Please make sure
to carefully read through this memorandum and look for a
reference to yourself as required to pay a fair share, a
service fee, or any other wording that will take money from
your paycheck. If you discover such wording, then your choice
should be quite easy. Vote NO on this memorandum and then
send it back to its originator. As a state employee, you
have the right to vote on this memorandum, whether you want
a mandatory service fee taken out of your paycheck or not.
It’s up to you, and your future lies in your hands.
So please be proactive.
House Bill 1346, repealing "The Fair Share Act" is
in the 2010 legislature now. MCEA strongly supports this
bill and is actively repealing service fees and will continue
to fight for state employees to keep their hard-earned money
in their own pockets.
HB 1346 - State Employees - Collective Bargaining - "The
Fair Share Act" - Repeal. Repealing provisions of
law authorizing collective bargaining negotiations pertaining
to specified State employees to include negotiations relating
to the right of an employee organization to receive service
fees from nonmembers; and repealing an exemption for employees
with specified religious beliefs and a requirement that
the employees pay a specified amount of money to a specified
charitable organization. Appropriations Committee, Delegates
Shank, Bartlett, Bates, Beitzel, George, Haddaway, Kach,
Krebs, McComas, McConkey, and Smigiel. http://www.mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/bills/hb/hb1338f.pdf
2009
Convention Results
MCEA's 2009 Annual Convention was held in Ocean City, Maryland
on October 12 and 13 at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center
located on 44th Street.
It was a huge success! More than 200 members, delegates,
Board of Directors, Area Governors, Chapter Presidents, MCEA
Officers, staff, special guests and officials attended and
voiced their concerns to vote on making new improvements for
the 2010 year for all state and county employees.
Legislative leaders including Ocean City Mayor Richard W.
Meehan, Former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, and Harford
County Executive David R. Craig were in attendance and delivered
supportive, inspiring speeches as well.
The MCEA Delegates elected MCEA's new Officers and Board
of Directors. The new Officers are Stephen J. Schaefer, President;
Linda Day, 1st Vice President; Michael Miller, 2nd Vice President;
Phyllis Lickliter, Treasurer; and David Stewart, Secretary.
They will serve a two year term, expiring in 2011. The new
Board of Directors are Anna Cluster, Christopher Farnell,
Marion Barnard Jones, Antoinette Perry, and Agnes Valenzia.
They will all serve a two year term, and Ms. Valenzia will
serve a one year term. Congratulations to the new leadership
of MCEA and welcome aboard!
“I am honored to be chosen as the new MCEA President.
The newly elected leadership is looking forward to a challenging
year with a new vision and innovative ideas and membership
input. I'm looking forward to an exciting year by expanding
membership into the counties, and it will be a pleasure to
work with everyone, including the Board, staff and members,”
stated MCEA President Stephen Schaefer.
Mr. Schaefer has been a dedicated, active member of MCEA
for 25 years. He most recently served as MCEA’s 2nd
Vice President for two years and a Board Director for three
years. He also served as President of Chapter 201 (Office
of Public Defenders) for eight years and former Chair of TEAM,
as well as past Chair of the Resolutions Committee. He has
been a state employee for 26 years and works for the Office
of the Public Defender. Mr. Schaefer can be contacted at 443-938-1764
or popschaefer@verizon.net.
The MCEA Delegation and staff unwound during the evening
by participating in social events, which included MCEA’s
Candidates' Reception at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront and Conference
Center (Convention Headquarters Hotel), and mingling with
the Delegation at Seacrets Nightclub dancing the night away.
Special thanks to all our guest speakers, delegates, members,
Convention Committee and staff for attending this year’s
Convention and in making your voice count for the betterment
of state and county employees in 2010.
The Latest on Furloughs (2009)
MCEA is outraged at the Governor for continuing to reach
into the pockets of hard-working, financially challenged State
workers. We have always opposed any pay cuts, furloughs, benefit
cuts and services fees and will continue to fight for state
employees in these trying times. We will remain active in
our fight to help state employees, so join MCEA and join the
fight!
Governor O'Malley’s latest round of budget cuts cost
205 state employees their jobs and slashed more than $210
million in funding for road maintenance, health care, community
colleges and police funding in Baltimore and the surrounding
23 counties. Despite MCEA’s numerous efforts to stop
the Governor from balancing the budget on the backs of state
workers again, the Governor’s proposal also included
furloughs for most of the state’s 70,000 employees,
a shutdown of routine government operations on five days near
holidays and other agency cutbacks.
State government offices will also be shut down for five days,
including the days before Thanksgiving and Christmas, New
Year's Eve, and the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. Employees
making more than $40,000 a year will not be paid for all of
those days. Workers making less than $40,000 wouldn't be paid
for three days and would have to take vacation or comp time
for the other two days. Those pay cuts would be spread throughout
the remaining 10 months of the fiscal year. Unlike last year's
furlough plan, which contained as many as five unpaid days
depending on salary level, emergency personnel will be required
to take some unpaid days. And this time, employees will be
allowed to take additional voluntary furlough days or seek
a 35-hour work week for less pay.
State employee furlough and pay reduction plan by income:
- Less than $40,000: 3 days
- $40,000 to $50,000: 8 days
- $50,000 to $100,000: 9 days
- More than $100,000: 10 days
Heavy budget cuts of more than a half million dollars have
also been shaved from Public Safety and Correctional Services
as well. The Eastern Correctional Institution is a national
model of Maryland’s largest prison that has been affected.
The Board of Public Works of Maryland agreed to cut/transfer
$280 million from the state budget to help make up for a $700
million financial hole. The DPSCS portion includes the elimination
of correctional offer retention bonuses, a budget reduction
of $588,000, a $25,000 re-estimation of contractual services
costs based on actual expenditures, and a transfer of $500,000
from the Maryland Correctional Enterprises’ $1 million
fund balance to the general fund.
MCEA Opposes Service Fees
Taxation without representation? No way! No how! Take action
now!
Senate Bill 264/House Bill 298 are bills from the Governor
that would allow bargaining agents to negotiate service fees,
(also called “fair share” or agency fees) for
collective bargaining. This means that tens of thousands of
employees who are not dues-paying members of the exclusive
bargaining representatives could pay approximately $250 a
year by payroll deduction. The unions (AFSCME, MFNHCP and
MPEC) would collect millions each year of your hard-earned
dollars to be deposited into their coffers. Now does that
really sound like a fair share to you?!
MCEA opposes all service fees and fights to make sure these
service fee bills do not pass. MCEA is adamant about protecting
its members by making sure they are treated equally and fairly.
Service fees are against the law. So please be prepared to
vote service fees down! Watch for service fee legislation.
Read documents word for word and make sure they are not hidden
in upcoming bargaining union contracts. Service fees are not
fair, and they hurt working families. MCEA will make sure
its members are treated right.
For more information about service fees, please go to http://mcea.org/Templates/flyers.htm
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