Special Election Endorsement Edition - Afscme 67 Newsletter

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Obama for America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 AFSCME MD Council 67 Supports Question 2 . . . . . . 3 1st Congressional Race. Frank Kratovil . . . . . . . . . . 4 Important Messages from AFSCME . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6th Congressional Race. Jennifer Dougherty . . . . . . 7 Endorsements At-A-Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Special Election Endorsement Edition

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n November 4, we can vote for proven fighters on the issues we care about most—guaranteeing access to quality, affordable health care everyone can count on, fully funding public services and the workers who provide them, and returning the nation to solid financial ground. Or we can elect Republican U.S. Senator John McCain (Arizona) and

have four more years of President George W. Bush’s disastrous policies. “What holds this country together is that fundamental belief that we all have a stake in each other. That’s the idea that led me to enter public service more than two decades ago.” This is what Democratic Presidential nominee U.S. Senator Barack Obama (Democrat, Illinois) told 6,000 attendees in late July during our union’s 38th International Convention in San Francisco. His remarks were a reminder of what’s at stake in this Presidential election and why AFSCME has endorsed Obama for President and U.S. Senator Joe Biden (Democrat, Delaware) as Vice President. Senator Obama’s commitment to working families has been a constant throughout his career in public service, from his work in the ’80s as a community organizer for a church-based group on Chicago’s South Side — an area that had been devastated by steel mill closings — to his 8-year tenure in the Illinois State Senate and his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

Good Jobs & Good Wages Throughout his career, Obama has worked to create good jobs and protect wages. In Congress, he fought against the privatization of federal jobs — including support and operations staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital— and voted for a



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Special Election Endorsement Edition

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Special Election Endorsement Edition



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Special Election Endorsement Edition

six-year, $286 billion reauthorization of the federal highway and transit construction program that would create 1 million new jobs. He also opposed a measure backed by McCain and most Senate Republicans that would have disqualified as many as 10 million workers from minimum wage, and overtime and equal pay protections. Plus, Senator Obama voted to raise the federal minimum wage in 2005, 2006, and 2007. As President of the United States, Obama will also increase the minimum wage and index it to inflation.

Standing for Worker’s Rights Obama has been a fighter for workers’ rights to organize. “I think we can have a President who is willing, from the Oval Office, to talk about unions and say unions are a good thing,” he explained at the AFSCME Leadership Conference in June 2007 in reference to the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that he co-sponsored. It seeks to restore employees’ freedom to form unions and bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions. “There is no reason that we can’t sign the Employee Free Choice Act,” he added.

Health Care We Can Count On

Protecting Retirement Security

Senator Obama has said that one of his top priorities is to guarantee quality, affordable health care for every American. He will make a public health plan available to the 47 million uninsured Americans nationwide as well as the self-employed and small businesses. The benefit package will be similar to the one available to members of Congress through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Obama is committed to protecting Social Security from the privateers, keeping American’s most successful social program healthy and viable. As he stated during a Democratic primary debate in September 2007. “We should be willing to do anything that will strengthen the system, to make sure that we are being true to those who are already retired, as well as young people in the future. And we should reject things that will weaken the system, including privatization, which essentially is going to put people’s retirement at the whim of the stock market.”

He co-sponsored the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 in the U.S. Senate to ensure that more children have affordable health care coverage, providing an additional $35.2 billion over five years for the program. As President, he intends to expand eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP. Obama also voted to allow importation of affordable prescription drugs, and to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for senior citizens. He opposed a $14 billion, five-year funding cut for Medicaid.

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He wants to raise the cutoff on the payroll tax and increase the maximum amount of earnings covered by Social Security to keep the program solvent. Likewise, Obama is conscious of the need to protect our seniors’ retirement security. This is why he has stated that he will not “cut benefits or raise the retirement age. I believe there are a number of ways we can make Social Security solvent that do not involve placing these added burdens on our seniors.”



Special Election Endorsement Edition



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Special Election Endorsement Edition Maryland Public Employees Council 67, AFSCME, AFL-CIO 1410 Bush Street, Suite A Baltimore, MD 21230

Officers Glenard S. Middleton, Sr.— Executive Director Dale Chase—President Dennis J. Landis, Jr.—Vice President Peggy Peacock—Treasurer Dorothy Bryant—Secretary Executive Board Jewel Dozier Janie Johnson Doug Levine Mike Pyles Mary Pat Whiteley Administrator Dr. Nicole M. Francis Operations Manager George Gisin Staff Jim Bespitch, Staff Representative

301-759-9328

Archer Blackwell, Senior Staff Representative Kory Blake, Staff Representative Glen Bouldin, Director Organizing Michael Bradley, Printer/Media Consultant Cheri Ciboroski, Membership Michelle Edwards, Community Outreach/ Public Policy Specialist Dawn Handy, Administrative Assistant Beverly Kriss, Comptroller Brendon Laster, Political/Legislative Coordinator Jody Oliver, Office Assistant (Cumberland, MD) Alina Ortega, Organizer Thomas Raymond, Organizer Yulanda Tucker, Receptionist

Telephone Numbers Baltimore Office (410) 837-7278 or (800) 727-3332 Cumberland Office (301) 759-9328 Hagerstown Office (301) 739-9501 Prince George’s County Office (301) 599-9095 The Maryland Public Employee is a publication for and about the members of AFSCME Council 67. The Maryland Public Employee is published by Council 67. Signed Articles express the view of the writer.

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Local Presidents President Local Nathanial Burrell 4007 Baltimore City Housing Authority-White Collar Cory Trusty 3737 Baltimore City Intake and Detention Center Reginald Crowley 3495 Frederick County Jerome L. Tucker 3406 City of Annapolis David L. Burbank 3399 City of Takoma Park Thomas F. Colbert 3389 Prince George’s County Health Department James Robinson 3376 Baltimore Community Colleges Tyrone Johnson 3374 Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Wayne L. Hose 3373 Hagerstown Police Department Mary Pat Whiteley 3162 Annapolis Clerical/Technical Employees Dale R. Chase 3085 Howard County Department of Public Works Freddy Glover 3080 Howard County Detention Center Keith L. Fowler 2981 Charles County Board of Education Joshua Johnson 2979 Baltimore City Housing Authority Supervisors Dennis Landis, Jr. 2898 Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission Clementine Thomas 2751 University of Maryland Medical Center Larry Curtis 2741 Carroll County Board of Education Charmaine D. Collins 2740 Somerset County Board of Education Mavis Alexander 2735 Prince George’s Co. Dept. of Lic. and Human Res. Dennis W. Embly 2677 Washington County Ben Blake 2563 Anne Arundel Co. Clerical/ Technical Employees Debbie Tell 2471 Harford County Board of Education John S. Hawkins 2462 Prince George’s Co. Dept. of Public Works Elizabeth A. Brandenburg 2380 Montgomery County Community College Peggy Peacock 2202 Baltimore City Dept. of Housing & Com. Dev. Jackie Johnson 2202N NAACP James W. Hackett 1899 Howard County Board of Education Jerome Damon 1859 Mass Transit Administration Police Michael E. Pritt 1834 Garrett County Roads Michael M. Harrison 1802 Harford County Government James C. Sollers 1693 Anne Arundel County Board of Education Jack Davis 1633 Allegany County Public Employees Mike Hanlon 1540 City of Hagerstown Jon Sterrett 1521 Allegany County Sheriff’s Department Joe Pritchard 1453 City of Rockville John James 1209C City of College Park Jervis Ray 1209B City of Bowie Rhonda Wallace 1170 Prince George’s Co. Health Department Supervisors Norman A. Anderson 921 Baltimore County Department of Public Works John Dunaway 647 Baltimore City Housing Authority R. Mike Akers 582 Anne Arundel Community County Dept. of Public Works Nancy Woodhead 558 Baltimore County Community Health Nurses Mike Pyles 553 City of Cumberland Lora P. Williams 434 Baltimore County Board of Education Larry Collick 241 Prince George’s County Crossing Guards Glenard S. Middleton, Sr. 44 Baltimore City Municipal Employees



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