Get to know Maryland Classified Employees Association (MCEA) Local 1935 member Donald Maynard.
(answers edited for clarity and length)
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How long have you been a MDOT/MTA employee and MCEA member? I am a Bus Field Supervisor and have been with MDOT/MTA for a total of nine years. I’ve been a member of MCEA for four years and currently serving as president of the Supervisors United for Collective Bargaining.
Supervisors are sometimes thought to be outside of union protection. What is significant to you about being in a union, although you're a supervisor? As a supervisor, being in a union gives me a voice at the table as far as benefits, pay, and overall wellness of the job and workplace. Collective bargaining gives us as supervisors a bigger voice at the table. As supervisors we look at certain things and policies that have been handed down to us that we felt weren’t fair, but collective bargaining gives us a bigger voice and stronger advantage as we deal with upper management.
Your work makes a positive impact on the public, what about your work are you most proud of? The thing I’m most proud of is dealing with the public. Being face to face with the public, I get to see what we can do better, what we may be doing wrong, and how we can fix things. I believe the public is our first lane into understanding where we can be better and even what chances we can take to be better at certain things.
Thinking back, were there any public employees who made an impact on your life, or made your life better that you remember? If so, who were they and what kind of impact did they make? My brother has been a Baltimore City police officer for 25 years. He’s made a significant change on the streets and in the communities he’s worked in, and he’s still working in the department and continues to make change. Growing up, one public employee I respected was a politician and it was Kurt Schmoke. Schmoke was the first Black person elected Mayor of Baltimore, and that had a positive impact on me growing up.
What's one thing you hope the public understands about public employees like yourself? One thing I hope the public understands about public employees is that we’re people just like them. We’re not just people holding a job, we’ve been there. Some of us experience day-to-day crises dealing with the public and we understand. Some of us really do understand and want to work with the public because we want things to get better.
What's one thing you learn from the public in interacting with us in your capacity at work? One thing I’ve learned from the public is that they want us to be honest. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from the public, if they’re informed and we’re honest people are alright. That’s the biggest thing I take from the public. The MCEA and AFT Maryland wishes Donald Maynard and all of our public employees a Happy Public Service Recognition week! |