A dedicated group of your coworkers work tirelessly as AFSCME volunteers to bring Raises, Rights and Respect to Maryland's higher education workers. We have not succeeded nearly as often as we could.
For example
You will probably be surprised to learn that University administrators are free to skim money from your merit pay increase.
What administrators use our raise money for, nobody's talking. However, legislators were shocked to discover that higher education staffers may not receive 100 percent of their authorized merit pay raises.
Somehow during this year's legislative session, the "leaders" of higher education in Maryland were able to prevent the passage of a simple measure designed to create certainty in the Higher Education Budget for Merit Pay Increases.
AFSCME proposed the addition of this simple language to the Higher Education appropriations bill
"Further provided that $28,558,016 of the current unrestricted fund appropriation for the University System of Maryland may not be expended for any program or purpose except that the funds may be expended for salary increments and associated fringe benefit increases for eligible employees at the system office and the University System of Maryland institutions. Salary increments are in addition to any cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment provided for State employees."
In plain English
The 2.5 percent merit increase money authorized by the legislature must be used
for salary increases only.
AFSCME urged the Senate Budget and Tax Committee incorporate this language into the University System Budget and give Maryland's Higher Education Employees the same merit pay certainty as State Employees.
Representatives of the University of Maryland System administration were able to block this modest check on their power, claiming it was "micro-management."
As a result, they remain free to help themselves to your raise money. Remember this when you get less than a 2.5 percent merit increase in your first paycheck after July 15th.
Remember, it's all about Raises, Rights and Respect
Isn't it time you joined AFSCME?
The union that works for you
Make Staff Priority ONE!
This is a time of great anticipation for higher education workers in Maryland.
We have a newly elected Democratic governor who has the potential for greatness, yet his track record as Mayor of Baltimore leaves many concerned about his dedication to working people.
Making good on his pledge not to raise tuition at Maryland's public colleges and universities will require some serious arm twisting. Only time will tell if those arms belong to the workers or to the administrators.
For now, we are giving him breathing room. His transition team has their work cut out for them. We can encourage them to undo the mischief done by O'Malley's predecessor. But we will have to wait and see if they mean to make Maryland's public employees a priority.
Stay tuned.
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