AFSCME 1072

Ehrlich's Gift
to Governor O'Malley
(Layoffs: the first resort of scoundrels)

Gov. O'Malley announced that he is asking Department Secretaries to cut $200 million from a combination of the '07 and '08 budget. Each Department is to get its target figure in the next few days. He expects that there will be cuts in OT, and layoffs. They will offer job retraining and counseling. Some agencies will have larger cuts than others. Target figures will be given to each department in the next few days.

Our response is:

"We are willing to work with the O'Malley Administration regarding ways to save money and increase efficiencies. Front line workers are in the best positions to know what can be done and need to be consulted first instead of top down. Cuts such as layoffs jeopardize quality services:

Parole and Probation caseloads already exceed national standards. Cuts mean less supervision of dangerous criminals and less safe neighborhoods.
Social Service employees protect elderly people and children from abuse and already have high caseloads.
State Hospitals are on mandatory OT because of short staffing. This has alredy resulted in one employee death at Spring Grove hospital.
Clerical employees routinely report doing the work today that 4-5 people did before.
MVA - do we want longer lines?

To just talk about layoffs, is not exercising the type of leadership we need on this issues. This is not about state employee liveliehood, it is about lives in this state."

For us in AFSCME, this is an important time for us to mobilize. Immediately we need to examine the budget for the obvious cuts that we can recommend. Our members all know ways to cut costs that do not reduce services. Send your ideas to me. The sooner the better.

Sue Esty
Interim Executive Director
AFSCME Council 92