Last week, AFSCME Council 3 and the State of Maryland had another hearing about the Emergency Pay Grievance. As discussed in the previous update, management has a team of Assistant Attorney Generals working to defeat this grievance. Recently, their team has challenged the Office of Administrative Hearing’s decision to deny management’s motion to dismiss (i.e. the decision to move forward on the grievance). That challenge is in the Anne Arundel Circuit Court. Although a newly assigned Assistant Attorney General recently answered our filings (seeking to end the court challenge) there is no hearing scheduled yet in Circuit Court.
At the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), our case continues and has moved into the discovery phase and we continue to gather information documenting the closure status of the various state agencies. You can read more about this process here. In addition, our hearing process has been scheduled to start in early 2022. We will update you with more information as we get closer to those hearing dates.
The legal proceedings for this case are unprecedented both in the size of this case and the nature of the legal issues at hand. They have rarely been heard at this level. This case may continue for an extended period due to the number of issues and complexities. Our union continues to fight for fair wages in every venue including the fight for Governor Hogan to invest Maryland’s $2.5 billion dollar surplus in frontline staff. AFSCME and the lead grievants in your agency are the only reliable source of information about the grievance as the state continues to circulate false rumors. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need more information.
