Maryland Professional Employee Council

2006 Legislative Session - Update
2006 Maryland General Assembly Highlights for State Employees in Bargaining Unit G

The Maryland Professional Employee Council with the help of AFT-Maryland, has had a hugely successful legislative session on your behalf!
Everyone gets a Pay Increases this year- All eligible state employees will get a step increase or merit increment, usually about 2% of your current pay. A flat rate of $900 for employees earning less than $45,000 and for employees earning more than that, a 2% increase. Salary adjustments go into affect July 1, relative to your anniversary date of entry date, January or July.

COLA – The Governor included in his budget proposal a 2% cost-of-living adjustment. The State Legislature was able to protect that allowance.

Deferred Compensation Match – for the second year in a row the budget passed with a match for employees. This year the state has agreed to fund up to $600 match for each employee that contributes to the deferred compensation 401a plan! If you are not yet participating you are missing the boat. Sign up today.

Collective Bargaining - Despite the great efforts of some to keep state employees from gaining any sort of due process when it comes to labor disputes, both the Maryland Senate and the House have overridden the Governor’s veto of the Collective Bargaining bill. The bill provides better protection for workers’ rights, defines unfair labor practices, provides for a neutral fact-finder on labor-management disputes, and clarifies the original intent of Collective Bargaining Law to establish a labor-management process which resolves employment-related disputes through open, honest and good-faith discussion between both parties. The bill also establishes an Independent State Labor Relations Board (SLRB) with the Secretary of DBM who is management’s chief negotiator no longer a member of the SLRB and the Executive Director will now to be appointed by the SLRB. This is a major improvement to Maryland’s Collective Bargaining Law, and a huge victory for all state employees.

The bill also mandates that the state provide labor’s exclusive representatives with the telephone numbers and addresses of the employees who the unions are required by law to represent. Such a requirement does not now exist and that makes it very difficult to communicate with eligible employees.

Major Pension Reform! – A Herculean effort from public employees and teachers helped the Maryland Legislature draft serious pension enhancement legislation. This legislation was approved and provides an increase in the current multiplier from 1.4 percent to 1.8 percent of an employee’s average final salary after retirement. The bill makes this increase retroactive to 1998. The employee contribution will increase to 5 percent, but the increase will be phased in over the next three (3) years. This legislation becomes effective July, 2006. This is a great win! Go online to: http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/rd1StY51QuIz/ if you have questions. There are links to benefit worksheets that are very helpful.

Serious Prescription Relief - We heard you. And they heard all of us! Your union worked diligently to support this new legislation. This law makes prescriptions more affordable for working families, provides state employees with an optional mail order prescription medicine program that provides maximum $20 co-pay for a 90-day medicine supply. Note: You must use the mail order plan to take advantage of the $20 maximum co-pay. For more information, you can call Caremark at 1-800-345-9384, or go to the Caremark State of Maryland Plan website: http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/4p1StY51QuIq/.

Your Union Is Working For You! MPEC and AFT-Maryland supports collective bargaining as a process that assures worker involvement and participation in the decision-making process in the workplace. The use of collective bargaining means that workers' rights are considered when management decisions are made. When we organize and mobilize, we win! For all of you who made phone calls, wrote letters, sent email and showed up at the rallies: Thank You! This legislative session was full of victories for us. If you haven’t had the chance to get involved directly with your union, now is the time. The MPEC website http://md.aft.org/mpec provides more information about services and benefits available to members of MPEC through the affiliated organizations of AFT and AFT-Maryland. You will also find news updates and publications about events affecting public employees state and nationwide.

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Updated on September 12, 2006