Union representing Maryland state employees opens ranks to supervisors

The union representing state employees is anticipated to grow by more than 5,000 members later this year, expanding their ranks to include supervisors.

The legislation applies only to front-level supervisors who do daily supervision of staff and perform similar duties to the people they oversee including, for example, nurse supervisors at state hospitals or lieutenants at a state prisons. It does not apply to state employees in managerial positions who have the ability to hire, fire and make departmental decisions.

The Maryland chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, scored a legislative win in 2024 with the passage of House Bill 260/Senate Bill 192, which will allow state employees in supervisory roles to collectively bargain starting Oct. 1.

“Now supervisors will have a voice in their job that they didn’t have in the past,” Patrick Moran, AFSCME Council 3’s president, said in a phone interview Monday.

Moran said that, because of Maryland’s state workforce shortage, state employees who serve as supervisors often work side-by-side with members of his union who have the right to collectively bargain and resources they can’t access.

He called the bill’s passage “a good step forward.”

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, signed the legislation into law last week.

Upon entering office, Moore pledged to fill 5,000 of the nearly 10,000 state employee positions left open or eliminated under the administration of former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, during his first year. But Moore fell far short.

The vacancy rate for state employee positions in the executive branch fell by approximately 2% that year — from 13% in January 2023 to 11% in October 2023, according to a report from the General Assembly’s Spending Affordability Committee.

“Our administration has always been proud to lift up, and support, the work that our dedicated state employees do. This bill underscores that,” Moore said in a statement.

AFSCME currently represents approximately 45,000 public sector employees across Maryland. If state supervisors demonstrate support for the union to serve as its collective bargaining agent, that number will grow to around 50,300. The union already represents county employees in supervisory positions in Baltimore City and Howard and Prince George’s counties. Other supervisory units across local government and school boards exist, but are represented by other collective bargaining units.

With the approval of the 2024 legislation, AFSCME will represent supervisory employees in 12 states including Maryland, Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Minnesota, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Florida.

“HB 260 builds on the efforts of the Maryland House of Delegates to support Maryland workers and expand collective bargaining rights,” House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, a Baltimore City Democrat, said in a statement. “As we continue to rebuild our state workforce, it is important that Maryland state supervisors have a voice on the job through their union with AFSCME.”