Delegates pass $1.25 dues increase. At MCEA's 2006 Convention, held Oct. 23-25, chapter representatives voted to increase dues to $10.25 per bi-weekly pay for employee-members and to $3.00 per month for retirees. The rise will take effect Jan. 1, 2007. The Budget Committee, with approval from the Board of Directors, had recommended a dues increase of 75 cents bi-weekly for active-employee members. As the policy-making body, delegates exercised their right to vote yea or nay to the proposal. The additional funds will allow MCEA to hire a permanent Executive Director, full-time lobbyist and human resources specialist, and to upgrade its computer system.
2006 Convention Update: Elected to the Board of Directors were: Agnes Valenzia, president of MVA Chapter 22 and former MCEA Treasurer; and Stephen Schaefer, an Investigator with the Office of the Public Defenders and president of Chapter 102. Re-elected to a second term on the Board were Linda Day, president of Baltimore City Social Services Chapter 45, and Pamela Hoy, president of SHA Chapter 169.
MCEA 2006 Convention held Oct. 23-25. Read on.....
Legislative hearings puts corrections brass on the defensive. In response to the second killing this year of a Correctional Officer in the line of duty, the House and Senate public safety subcommittees held a hearing on Aug. 8, 2006 to get answers from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and Division of Correction on how to keep the prisons safe. MCEA testified before the joint committees, providing a list of recommended changes in staffing, general operations, equipment and resources. A budget analyst's review of the department found a direct correlation between cuts in officer positions and the increase of violence in the prisons.
Correctional Officer pays ultimate sacrifice. MCEA mourns the tragic but heroic death of Officer David McGuinn on was fatally stabbed by inmates on July 25, 2006 while making his rounds at the Maryland House of Correction. MCEA is told that even after he was brutally wounded, Officer McGuinn, 41, had the safety of his fellow officers on his mind, and took action to secure the area. This two-year Officer and father of two is a brave example of professionalism and heroism. It is sad that he had to pay for security gaps with his life. In a June 8 letter, MCEA and officers had warned state corrections and MHC officials about death threats against officers and other security breaches. We got no response. Read on...
Arrangements for Officer David McGuinn. Viewing will be held Aug. 2, 2006 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Atlantic City Convention Center, 1 Miss America Way, Atlantic City, N.J. 08401. Funeral services will be held Aug. 3, 10 a.m. at the Convention Center. Interment immediately following at the Atlantic City Cemetery.