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Maryland union, state, miss deadline on labor agreement

January 2nd, 2021 by WCBC Radio

Maryland’s largest public employee union says an agreement with the state on a labor contract has missed a deadline. The Baltimore Sun reports the deadline for bargaining was 11:59 p.m. Thursday. The new three-year contract would have been set to take effect July 2021. The contract affects around 20,000 state workers under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3. That includes correctional officers, state hospital workers and social workers.

Union representatives say Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration came to them with an 11th-hour contract offer of a 1% raise, if the state exceeds its revenue projections by $200 million.

The newspaper reports Hogan’s 1% offer to AFSCME comes amid news of more favorable deals for the state’s law enforcement and fire unions.

AFSCME President Patrick Moran says AFSCME members had sought raises equal to other unions in the state. He says the union’s members are the victims of discriminatory tactics by the administration.

Hogan spokesman Mike Ricci says Moran “lashes out in the media to deflect from his inability to deliver.” He countered that the Hogan administration had successfully reached agreements with all other Maryland unions, including teachers and nurses.