The Democrats in the Howard State Delegation are seeking to reduce the pay of about 900 school employees with House Bill 881 . Okay, that’s not the way they portray it, but that will be the effect. The bill will enable the Howard County Education Association to collect mandatory fees from employees that are not union members. The voting on the bill was along party lines.
As reported in the Baltimore Sun, “Union officials were jubilant. Ann DeLacy, the union president, I think this is a great achievement”
Section 5, part (v) of the bill states:
1. The agency or representation fee shall be based only on the expenses incurred by the employee organization in its representation in negotiations, contract administration, including the handling of grievances, and other activities, as required under this section.
2. Any political activities of the employee organization designated as the exclusive representative may not be financed by the funds collected from the agency or representation fee.
Seems reasonable, for those employees that may object to union activities, these provisions appear to provide some restrictions. Right? Well, what does the union say:
“DeLacy said the extra money could be used in several ways, including more professional development support to help teachers advance their careers, for hiring staff members and perhaps for expanding union office space.”
The bottom line, the union gets more money from 900 school employees whether they like it or not.
