AFSCME 1072
The action local for UMCP and UMUC

September 05, 2008

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Welcome
- Bienvenidos

Welcome to the AFSCME Local 1072 web page!

Your 2008 UMCP MOUs (Contracts)
are now online.
Click "Contracts" button at lower left
of this page.

It's good to have you here. This web page will help you reach us and get information on the latest developments in the workplace.

I don't need to tell you that we are living through difficult times. Most of the gains enjoyed by university staff are eroding beneath our feet. The university's financial priorities clearly demonstrate that we are not respected for the work we do. Sometimes it seems that the administrators operate under the delusion that the university can run itself.

Only by organizing can we make our voices heard. Our union is the best tool we have to move our cause forward.

If you are satisfied with the way things are -- stay home and watch TV. If you think things should be better not only for yourself but for all who work in higher education,
I invite you to join with us in AFSCME Local 1072. There is a better way.

Greg Johnson
President, AFSCME Local 1072

¡Bienvenidos a la página web de su AFSCME Local 1072!

Mucho gusto tenerte por aquí. Esta página web te ayudará a que te puedas comunicar con nosotros y a conseguir la información sobre los ultimos progresos en el lugar donde se trabaja.

No es necesario decirte que las épocas en las que estamos viviendo son muy difíciles. La mayoria de los aumentos que disfruta el personal de la Universidad, se estan destruyendo bajo nuestros pies.

Las prioridades financieras de la universidad demuestran claramente que no hay respeta por el trabajo que hacemos. Pero todavia más importantemente, es que los administradores de la universidad, parecen estar funcionando bajo la ilusion que la universidad puede funcionar sin trabajadores.

Solamente organizandonos podemos hacer que nuestras voces se escuchen. Nuestra unión es la mejor herramienta que tenemos para poder llevar nuestra causa adelante.

Si estás satisfecho con la forma en que estan las cosas – quedate en casa a ver televisión. Si piensas las cosas deben ser mejores, no sólo para ti, pero para todos que trabajan en una institución de educación mayor, te invito a que te unas con nosotros en AFSCME local 1072.

Hay una manera mejor!

Greg Johnson
Presidente de AFSCME local 1072

NOW TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Make your voice heard

Join AFSCME today – Call us at (301) 270-8528

MEET WITH US

AFSCME Local 1072 membership meets the first Wednesday of every month at 5:15 pm in the Nanticoke Room at Stamp Student Union

What's New at AFSCME 1072

Rally revitalizes talks over univ. workers' contracts

Posted On: May 07, 2008 (19:16:48)

Rally revitalizes talks over univ. workers' contracts

By: Kristi Tousignant

Posted: 5/5/08

Student activist groups held a May Day rally Friday to advocate labor rights and highlight university workers' struggles to gain fair work conditions.

University workers united last semester to speak out against discrimination in the workplace - particularly against non-English speaking workers - and held forums to protest low wages, shift changes and sexual harassment. Six months after workers' groups pushed their harassment into the public eye, union officials have succeeded in re-opening contract discussions.

Friday's rally featured a coalition of student groups who voiced concerns about immigrants', workers' and graduate students' rights in honor of May Day, a date which historically recognizes the labor movement.

"There are so many issues here XXXXXX

on campus," said Carter Thomas, president of Students and Workers Unite!. "We want to make clear that campus labor activism is currently going on."

A group of 25 people gathered for the event sponsored by Students and Workers Unite!, Feminism Without Borders, College Park Students for a Democratic Society, the Asian American Student Union and Community Roots.

Landscape Technician Supervisor Craig Newman, who also represents a local workers union, said there are still labor problems at the university but acknowledged that they are being addressed.

"This is about respect and justice," Newman said. "I'm tired of seeing people respected because they have money or control. It is not just about personal wealth."

Newman said discussions between workers and upper administration are going on now, though he said he did not expect a solution to be reached for several weeks.

Newman's main point of contention was the change in housekeeping shifts imposed by the administration last semester, saving the university $300,000, Newman said.

"The easiest place to save money is among those who don't speak," Newman said. "But now, we are willing to talk."

About four years ago, the housekeeping staff came in at 10 p.m. and worked until 6:30 a.m., allowing workers to do their jobs while the academic buildings were empty. But due to budget constraints, the administration changed the shift from 4 a.m. to noon, giving the workers only four hours before students and faculty flooded the buildings.

Not only does the new shift make it more difficult for workers to do their jobs, Newman said, but the change has also resulted in a decrease in pay. Though the university did not officially cut any wages, workers received a $1-per-hour bonus when working between 1 p.m. and 2 a.m., a time slot the new shift does not fall into.

Newman urged the crowd to write into administrators and ask them to give workers relief from a shift that he called "harder, faster and more dangerous."

Junior family studies major Rosa Lozano, who spoke at the rally on behalf of Feminism Without Borders and called for the university to sign an anti-sweatshop petition, said she understood the workers' pleas.

"I think it's ridiculous," Lozano said. "I think that an institution like this, in order to support the education of future professionals, cannot deny workers' basic rights. As students, we have the responsibility to speak up for them."

tousignantdbk@gmail.com
This is from the Diamondback
Here is a link where you can go to leave a comment.: http://tinyurl.com/5fzxaw

Clueless in Annapolis

Posted On: Oct 31, 2007 (18:34:41)
In Annapolis on Monday as we heard the fans of reactionary talk radio chanting "No New Taxes," an old saying crossed my mind:

"We have created a working class is so open-minded that it won't even take its own side in an argument."

“It’s a wonder that American workers support the 18th century robber baron agenda of the Republican Party, a party that constantly votes against their interests: tax cuts for the rich; judges who support monopolies and always rule in favor of corporations; destruction of the environment; deregulation of rules that protect consumers and workers; support for an avaricious military-industrial-pharmaceutical complex; rampant business and Congressional corruption; and a Congress that refuses to raise the minimum wage, while raising it’s own pay seven times in eight years.”

We ask you to read Governor O'Malley's budget plan carefully. It isn't perfect, but you must admit that the reactionary hotheads haven't got a clue. Ask any knee-jerk reactionary who is railing about taxes to suggest a state program to cut. I have noticed that most have absolutely no idea what state government does. So much for an informed electorate!

Twenty-four hours a day, state employees watch out for you, your family and our state. Maryland's problem is not what to cut, it's getting the freeloaders to pay their fair share.

We Need YOU!

Posted On: Jan 19, 2007 (17:44:01)

Your parking fees at work!

Posted On: Nov 21, 2006 (15:06:46)
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