Local 553 City of Cumberland

Local 1521 Allegany County Sheriffs Department

This has been a tough year to be a Sheriff Deputy in Allegany County. They are the most under paid Law Enforcement Officers in the region. The County Commissioner has divided the Sheriff Deputies by not funding their positions with the Sheriff’s Office under the annotated fund. As a result of this, the County started the County Bureau of Police and moved the funding from the Sheriff’s Office to the new bureau and grant funds to the Bureau of Police. The Local has filed arbitration over the fund and the section that the County has violated. The Sheriff has filed a law suit over this action and the local has been named as one of the victims in the suit.

The Correctional Officers at the Allegany County Detention Center were in the same boat as the Sheriff’s Deputies as to contract negotiations. After eight months past the duration date an agreement was reached. The Correctional Officers and deputies with help from the Officers at the Federal Correctional Institute, the Postal Workers, C.W.A. and many other Unions, walking the demonstration line and sent letters to the local newspaper.

The agreement now contains language that clarifies civil service doing bargaining unit jobs, clarifies overtime distribution, clarifies a sick leave policy, the meal allowance was increased, shoe allowance was increased, shift differential was increased, and a one-time increase of five percent wage payment was given to the employees. The second and third year of the agreement negotiated a five percent wage increase per year. A twelve hundred dollar signing bonus was negotiated, with a provision for a wage study, which we are in the process of doing now. Updates will be provided as they become available.

Local 1540 City of Hagerstown

Local 1633 Allegany County Public Employees

Local 1834 Garrett County Roads

The local held their annual scholarship fundraiser and made enough to sponsor three AFSCME Local 1834 local members’ children and two non-AFSCME high school seniors $500.00 each. This is the third year that the local has done this.

Local  1834 is in the second year of a five year contract in which they negotiated a (26%) twenty six percent wage increase (which compounds), settled a long dispute over helpers on the dump trucks, cleared up negotiation language, increased the night differential and, they increased compensation for snow removal. In these hard economic times, the county has asked if the local would help by changing the starting time in the contract, the local agreed. This will prevent the county from possible lay-offs in the spring. This local has a good relationship with the county and most disputes are settled before they become grievances.

Local 2981 Charles County Board of Education

Local 3373 Hagerstown Police Department

Local 3495 Frederick County