Press Release: EMBARGOED until 6 pm on October 20th, 2021
Contact Stuart Katzenberg 443.956.2798
AFSCME Council 3 Members Rally Against Hogan’s Systemic Underfunding of Public Services
Baltimore, Maryland- AFSCME Council 3 members march and rally in Baltimore alongside legislative and community allies to demand Governor Hogan invest the recently announced surplus in underfunded public services and the employees who provide them. Members will gather at 301 Preston St. and march to the Walters Art Museum in solidarity with cultural arts workers organizing to win a union.
Maryland has a real chance to improve services by investing in our state government again after news of our $2.5 billion dollar surplus. Coinciding with AFSCME’s rally and march will be the release of a report, Surpluses or Services? highlighting the need for greater investment in critical state services.
Years of stagnant wages and uncompetitive wages had created a staffing crisis in which thousands of positions across state agencies were vacant and the state was another several thousand positions short. In Maryland’s twenty state-run local health departments for instance, over 40% of the positions were vacant as of 12/30/19. This staffing crisis, which had largely been left unattended by the Hogan administration continues to hurt Maryland’s response and recovery to the pandemic.
In addition to the ongoing staffing crisis, the backlog of projects for state facilities maintained under the responsibility of the Department of General Services (DGS) had grown to $187 million by the end FY 2017 as the average age of state buildings rose to 52 years old. High vacancy rates in DGS meant that routine maintenance projects were being delayed and the annual costs of emergency repairs were rising. More recently, the Building Assessment Unit (BAU) under the DGS estimates that by the end of 2022, $1.47 billion in repairs will be needed on State facilities.
AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran said, “We are here to fight for a shared vision of Maryland with our community and legislative allies with robust public services helping Marylanders in their lowest moments. Winning this change means investing in our public services and the workers who provide them. With news of our state's $2.5 billion surplus, the time is clear. We need to fund our heroes on the frontline, and we are here to make that clear to Governor Hogan.”
When: Wednesday, October 20th, 6 pm
Where: Meet at 301 Preston St and march to Walters Art Museum
Who: AFSCME Council 3 and allies including Delegate Stephanie Smith, Senator Cory McCray and representatives from No Boundaries Coalition, the NAACP MSC, Baltimore Teachers Union, and staff at the Baltimore Museum of Art and Walters Art Museum organizing their union with AFSCME Council 67
AFSCME Maryland represents over 30,000 hardworking and dedicated employees in the Maryland State government and in our public higher education institutions. It is the state’s largest and fastest-growing union for public service employees. We Make Maryland Happen.
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