Valentine’s Day is a day of love, and MPEC was in the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulations (DLLR) spreading union love. Organizer Aaron Ray tabled at the facility during lunchtime. He engaged workers on a number of issues, but one that drew the most interest was reclassification and back-pay associated with it.
The state’s plan to cut off our prescription benefit after age 65 will significantly diminish our retirement savings and the retirement life we have planned. SB946 passed the General Assembly in April and became law May 25, 2019. There are many questions surrounding SB946 and its implementation yet answers are not available. Click here to read the legislative history and other relevant information about the prescription drug plan.
The Maryland Professional Employees Council (MPEC) trained another round of stewards on Thursday, October 17, 2019. The member activists serve the union on a volunteer basis and will be the point persons at their worksites for information their co-workers need to know.
Going to work should not impair our health; there is a pattern of acute health conditions linked to the time employees spend in state buildings. The state is obligated to provide safe and healthy workspaces. Resolving shameful conditions in state buildings should be a priority. The state says our working conditions are safe; however, this is not our reality. We must make our reality known to the community and governing officials to gain the support and momentum needed to change current sick building conditions.
Click below to sign our petition to governing officials.
The MPEC bargaining team will begin negotiations September 25, 2019. Each year our contract priorities are determined by the results of the surveys submitted by members.
Members made their voices heard regarding the work environment at the Maryland Department of Health. The facility has a wide range of environmental challenges that affect members, but the most recent one to cause a stir was a bedbug outbreak. The state told the union that it has treated the facility for bedbugs, but members want a full, one-time fumigation of the building.