More than 20 Maryland union members attended the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents meeting on Friday to ensure that workers’ rights remain front-of-mind.
The push from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3 comes after university system Chancellor Jay Perman in September said government funding cuts are harming public universities and could lead to layoffs. The state has cut the public university system’s budget by $233 million in the last two years, according to Perman.
The union wanted the board to know that members’ perspectives matter and that they are open to collaboration, according to Todd Holden, president of AFSCME Maryland Council 3 Local 1072, the University of Maryland’s chapter.
“In a lot of things in the world, visibility is power,” Holden told The Diamondback. “The only way to make change is to show up and to make your voice heard.”
Union members also hope the system will be more proactive in reaching out to collaborate as a result of their efforts at the meeting, he added.
AFSCME Maryland Council 3 president Patrick Moran emphasized the importance of the university system and the union that represents more than 6,000 of its employees working together amid federal funding cuts.
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Moran suggested that the university system work with the union to make necessary cost-saving measures, while protecting its employees.
“We know that things are uncertain,” Moran told the board. “We know that vital services need to continue to function. We also know who the enemy is right now and [it] isn’t the members in this room. We don’t need to make hard choices yet. We need to make smart choices.”
Holden, who is also a web services developer at this university, reminded the board that while AFSCME workers are resilient, that resilience comes with a limit.
Members are worried about how they will be impacted by the budget cuts, he said. Previous economic crises, such as the Great Recession in 2008, affected workers’ ability to work at this university and fulfill its mission, Holden explained.
Employees at higher education institutions could instead seek work in other industries with better pay and work-life balance, Holden told The Diamondback.
“The reason that so many of us show up every day is because we believe in the mission of higher education,” he said.
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A member of the United Academics of Maryland-University of Maryland, which represents faculty at this university, also spoke up at Friday’s meeting.
Daniel Greene, the vice president of United Academics of Maryland-University of Maryland, asked the board to help protect students, staff and educators from impacts from the Trump administration, such as federal funding cuts.
Greene asked if the union could meet with the university system and university leadership to discuss unionization. Greene urged this university to be more transparent about who has been affected by funding cuts, as well as provide assistance like creating a sick leave bank.
“We are dealing with bullies,” Greene said of the federal government. “Bullies are cowards. We cannot be cowards too. As the UMD motto goes, we must be fearless.”
