LOOKING FOR THE UNION LABEL?
START WITH THE GREAT SEAL OF MARYLAND
Big labor dominates public policy in the Free State. Under Maryland law the courts are prohibited from granting injunctive relief to businesses caught in labor disputes in all but the most outrageous circumstances. Click here to learn how the State of Maryland affords special treatment to union activity.
| "Perhaps the most serious blow to the business community came from the Assembly's passage of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's bill to extend the prevailing wage law to school construction projects. While the current law applies the prevailing wage to school construction that is 75 percent funded by the state, this year's bill expanded that requirement to 50 percent." From an article appearing in the April 11, 2000 edition of The Daily Record. |
| "School construction should be bound by the same Prevailing Wage requirements that govern other State projects. The men and women who build our schools deserve to make a decent wage. . . . And studies indicate that we can pay fair wages without raising school construction costs." Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening, in the January 19, 2000 State of the State address, explaining, straight-faced, how increasing construction costs will not increase construction costs. |
| "Maryland has one of the most labor-friendly legislatures in the nation and repeated efforts to repeal the current prevailing-wage law have gotten nowhere." From the January 31, 2000Washington Times in an article foretelling the death of House Bill 819. |
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Facts
Problem
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IT GETS WORSE . . .
Since an executive order can be rescinded, the Governor could not guarantee union representation of state employees in the future. That loophole has been closed by the Maryland General Assembly.
Recently Maryland enacted legislation assuring collective bargaining rights for state employees. (See House Bill 179.) Now labor's hold on the State of Maryland is official: It's the law!
| "I think he's been a pro-labor governor, and he wears it on his sleeve. It's a new era with Parris Glendening. Things we've been fighting for for decades have come to fruition under his administration." Primo R. Padeletti, Secretary-Treasurer of the state AFL-CIO in the January 23, 2000 edition of The Baltimore Sun regarding Senate Bill 202. |
| "It's just the first of many price tags that are coming due to the Maryland taxpayer as a result of the governor's unrelenting drive to transform Maryland from the Free State to the Union State." Senator Martin G. Madden, in the December 22, 2000 edition of The Baltimore Sun. |
