Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Accusations abound as elected officials and the county police union gear up their campaigns to win the Nov. 6 referendum on curtailing FOP Lodge 35's authority on "effects bargaining."
The heated debate between Montgomery County officials and the county’s police union—which has already cast aspersions in all directions—is primed to get even hotter ahead of the Election Day referendum on reigning in the union’s negotiating rights. Question B on the Nov. 6 ballot will decide whether to preserve “effects bargaining,” which gives FOP Lodge 35 domain over a broad range of department policies. According to the 1982 effects bargaining law, the FOP can negotiate any action by the police chief that has an “effect on employees.” That has been applied to include, for example, officer reassignments, disability guidelines, distributing equipment and how to implement a computerized system for writing reports. It does not affect …
Friday, August 17, 2012
Maryland Court of Appeals rules in favor of Fraternal Order of Police request.
A referendum on the collective bargaining agreement between Montgomery County Police and the Montgomery County Council will be on the November ballot. The Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of a Fraternal Order of Police request to put the issue before the voters. In July 2011, the Montgomery County Council passed a law that blunted the police union's ability to negotiate certain management decisions, such as how officers are given new assignments and how to implement a new computer system used by employees. The law does not affect the right to negotiate for salary and benefits. Then at the end of June, a Montgomery County judge struck down the FOP's petitition to put the negotiating question on the ballot. The appeals court has …
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Some signatures did not provide valid information, according to a Washington Post report.
A petition to let residents vote on expansive bargaining rights for the Montgomery County police union was struck down by a Montgomery County judge Monday, according to a report in The Washington Post. Judge Eric M. Johnson rejected the petition because some of the signers did not provide valid information, The Post reported. The police union is expected to appeal the decision. In July 2011, the Montgomery County Council passed a law that quelled the police union's ability to bargain certain management decisions, such as how officers are given new assignments and how to implement a new computer system used by employees. The law does not affect the right to negotiate for salary and benefits. The police union collected over 35,000 …
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The referendum will ask voters whether to restore effects bargaining to the police union.
Voters will decide bargaining rights for Montgomery County Police, political blog Maryland Juice reported. The police union collected 34,828 signatures to put recently passed legislation to a referendum. The group needed signatures from five percent of the county's population, or 30,234 residents, the Gazette reported. MCP wants to regain their right to negotiate over staffing and equipment. The referendum will ask if voters want to "restore effects bargaining, which gives the union the right to negotiate over management decisions unrelated to salary, benefits and working conditions," according to the Gazette.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Council President Valerie Ervin, a former union organizer, seeks to repeal law that gives unions great power over management decisions.
This year, the Montgomery County Council has taken several steps to rein in some of the more questionable concessions public employee unions had extracted from the county in previous years. In a county known for granting the unions virtually everything on their wish lists, today’s tough economic climate is forcing the council to restore a little more balance to the relationship. It has not been easy for anyone, Council President Valerie Ervin and the unions in particular. First came the inevitable trimming of county employees' health and retirement benefits, to help bring spending back in line with declining revenues. Then the county moved to rein in some of the more outrageous abuses that had been going on for years in the disability …
Bill Hussein O'Stalin
11:17 am on Thursday, October 11, 2012
Public service workers workers should not be allowed to unionize. Look at how much this little mess is costing taxpayers. more ›