Federal immigration actions are rapidly expanding, with deadly consequences. The killings of poet Renee Nicole Good and nurse Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis have brought intense focus on the use of excessive force. An AFT webinar, co-hosted by AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang on Jan. 28, featured experts on immigration and the law. It highlighted AFT resources and showcased how our locals are showing up to minimize fear and trauma.

Scarlett Ahmed has started counting the number of people sleeping outside the Queens Career Center in New York City when she arrives at work in the morning.

“It was already bad,” she said. “But this? This will just add to it.”

The latest newsletter is out! 

Check out The Buzz, MCEA's quarterly newsletter.

In this issue:

• A message from MCEA's president, Marilyn Miller
• Wicomico Public Libraries Employees Win Union with MCEA!
• A Grievance Win for District Court of Maryland employee, Lisa Bryant O'Day
• Rep Assembly Report
• Council Spotlight
• Upcoming Events
• and more...

Click through for more!

We are delighted to share that the employees of the Wicomico Public Libraries have won their fight for recognition with MCEA. WPL staff make up our newest Council, Council 3318 (the Dewey Decimal number for labor unions).

The work that library employees do every day in our library systems is absolutely essential to our communities here in Maryland. From providing necessary services, promoting literacy, and fostering safety and community, library staff are on the frontlines when it comes to ensuring that Maryland residents can grow and learn. We are proud to organize with Wicomico public library staff and move toward sorely needed improvements in wages, benefits, and working conditions.

Click through to read more!

Summer is here, bringing intense heat and humidity with it. This means dangerous working conditions for many on the job. AFT Maryland and the City Union of Baltimore (CUB), along with a coalition of labor unions, recently scored a victory for worker safety during the hot days of summer. Together, we worked for new regulations to protect workers from the increasing risk of heat-related illnesses on the job.

The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) division of the state’s Department of Labor (DLLR), finalized the new heat illness prevention rules with implementation to begin ahead of the 2025 summer season. 

Under the new rules, employers must take specific actions when the heat index hits 80°F or higher. 
READ ON FOR MORE... 

AFT Leader,

Last night the House passed a massive bill, but it’s far from beautiful. It’s big and ugly. Passing this reconciliation bill is a betrayal of all of us, including the very people who gave Donald Trump his margin of victory in the election.

By one vote, the House passed a bill gutting Medicaid, the Pell Grant program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; cutting Medicare; making college less affordable; and using public education funding as a piggy bank to create a school voucher program that’s essentially a new tax shelter for the well-off. And why? To pay for tax cuts for billionaires.