We Stand By Our Union - UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO

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Local 1994 Members Monitor CouncilBudget Hearings FaithfullyFighting for Fairness in Budget ChoicesDuring the budget debate, Local 1994 members cameout in force to listen to the Council’s plans and to showsolidarity with their fellow public employees. The waveof gold shirts in the gallery definitely had an effect onsome of the Council’s tough decisions.When asked about their concerns, most of the County employeesfelt that the burden of the County’s cuts was falling unfairly on theshoulders of Local 1994 members with furloughs being a primaryconcern. But many others were concerned about how the cuts wereaffecting their delivery of services to county residents.Zainab Mansaray – MontgomeryCounty Correctional Center – NurseConcerned about the furloughs, “I’m asingle parent, with kids in college. I don’treceive help. As a county resident, I livein an apartment. I can’t afford otherwise.But, I’m going to see an increase in mybills, the water, gas and electric. Howam I going survive on a nearly 4 percentdecrease in my salary?”Dianne Betsey – CollectionsDevelopment, Libraries, Cataloguing,Library Associate II“They’ve cut the librarians fromthe libraries. If you go to the libraryon Sunday, you can’t get help from alibrarian. It’s ridiculous. When I movedhere in 1976, my children and I spenta great deal of time at the libraries. Wechecked out 17 books a week. My sonsare grown now, African American boys, allZainab Mansaray – MontgomeryCounty Correctional Center Nursecollege graduates. The libraries were highquality then.“Now… you go on a Sunday, you can’tget help…Everyone is on a cellphonetrying to get help from the hotline. Oryou go to Borders, or Barnes and Noble,or you drive over to Howard County toaccess their services. That’s not what alibrary should be like.”6 The Local Link • Fall 2010
“And they’re shutting down the staffsupportedbook clubs. I sponsor an AfricanAmerican book club. We have membersof all races, but the books we read areabout or by African Americans. I have anaverage of 15 persons at every meeting.There’s a Chinese book club, a Spanishbook club, they’ll be all gone at the end of2010.“If I were moving here now, I wouldn’tbuy in this County. My son has moved toVirginia. The changes they are makinghere are going to drive residents out of thecounty.”Danny Chamorro, Facilities“We’re still here. It’s the ninth inning,but we’re hoping for the best. In my unit,there are 14 positions, carpenters andinspectors, targeted for elimination, andthe rest will have to take the furloughs,but I’m optimistic about this fight. That’swhy I’m here, to show my support for theunion.”Heather Felsen, HHS – ChildWelfare“We’re not having position cuts. Butwe are going to have to take the furloughs,which would be a 3.8 percent decreasein our salaries. I’m a single woman, ahomeowner in the County. The cost ofliving is already high in this County. Thiswill be rough. I don’t have a husbandor someone else to pick up the slack onbills. I think the burden of these furloughsshould be shared. It’s not like I can move, Ican’t sell my house.“We serve a vulnerable population;we’re a quasi public safety agency. Theywill drive other people in my agency outof the County to live elsewhere and thenthey’ll leave the agency. That’s just the wayit happens.”Dianne Betsey – CollectionsDevelopment, Libraries,Cataloguing, Library Associate IICuts Hit County’sMost VulnerableIn Montgomery County’s budget cutssome of the County’s most vulnerableresidents were hard hit: Many Ride Onroutes were to be cut or scaled back; theCounty’s Conservation Corps, whichteaches jobs skills to at-risk young people;recreation centers and libraries that servicesenior citizens and young adults are losinghours, positions, monies for new materials.They even threatened to cut positions thatserve the medically fragile and complexchildren who attend the public schools.Strong Union ShowingRestores HealthRoom Aide CutsThe uproar caused by the cutsto the Health and Human Servicesbudget, restored the hours of the schoolhealth room aides that were slated forelimination. The school health room aidesare employed directly by the County, butthey staff the school health rooms. Theproposed cuts would have left some of thehealth rooms completely unstaffed andslashed income for aides by 14 percent.School Health room aides are certifiednursing assistants and are the first lineof defense at individual schools. Theyhand out medicines and deal withbasic checkups, administer insulin todiabetic children and sometimes docatheterizations.In Maryland, the minimum staffing ratiofor school nurses to students is 1 to 750,regardless of the number of health roomaides. The ratio for nurses working withspecial education students is 1 to 225. Sothese health room aides are literally thefirst responders for health issues amongchildren in public schools.The Local Link • Fall 2010 7
Page 1 and 2: Local LinkA Communications of UFCW
Page 3 and 4: In This IssueUnited Food & Commerci
Page 5 and 6: Local Deals With RaidersThe Raid On
Page 7: their plan to contract outthe Montg
Page 11 and 12: UFCW Local 1994 members, County emp
Page 13 and 14: OrganizingLawmakers Derail UnionRig
Page 15 and 16: Field Services Reportby Doug Menapa
Page 17 and 18: Voter Registration and Applications
Page 19 and 20: The Local Link • Fall 2010 3

We Stand By Our Union - UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO

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