When the pandemic began 18 months ago, frontline workers stepped up. The Hogan administration appropriately followed our MOU and paid workers emergency pay for the first two weeks of the crisis. Since those two weeks, AFSCME Council 3 has been engaged in collecting grievant submissions and pursuing the largest case against the State of Maryland ever filed.
This process began with employees from each agency filing a grievance to their agency. Almost a year later, because of timelines being tolled because of the COVID-19 crisis, these grievances have finally made it through all three previous steps of the grievance procedure. These cases have now been consolidated at the Office of Administrative Hearings into one big court case.
Causing further delays, as our legal team anticipated, the state filed motions to dismiss to try to prevent the case from being heard. Our lawyers and our membership responded, and there was a hearing on these motions to dismiss Monday, August 16th. We believe it went well, and the cases will not be dismissed, but the ruling from the judge is not due until September 15th, 2021. The judge did convene a pre-hearing hearing to deal with any other preliminary issues on Sept 25, provided he rules against dismissing the case, and then the case should be heard in October.
We will have updates as soon as we get them. If you need information in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to the lead grievant from your agency, listed below, or contact our Member Resource Center at 410.547.1515.
Our members power our union. This grievance is just one way to support our fight for living wages and respect in our paychecks. Become a member today to stand with your union by filling out an online membership form.
Stay tuned for more updates on ways to get involved in the fight for wages this fall.
Lead Grievants
Department of Agriculture- Ginger Noble
Department of Labor- Vicki Donnick
Department of Human Services- Sherylann Collins
Maryland State Department of Education- Kevin Dennis
Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services- Patrick Okafor
Maryland Aviation Administration- Christophehr Custis
Maryland State Police- Donald Hawkins
Department of General Services- Judith Roopnaraine
Maryland Department of Health- Miriam Doyle
Department of Juvenile Services- Denise Henderson
Maryland Port Administration- Bryan Badders
Maryland Transportation Authority- Debra Thrower
Motor Vehicle Administration- Vishma Maharaj
State Department of Assessment and Taxation- Shernae Parker
Department of Veteran's Affairs- Jermaine Palmer
State Highway Administration- Ronald Weeks
Department of Natural Resources- Yvette Campbell
Comptroller's Office- Tia McCoy-Johnson
