News Updates
News Updates
AFSCME Endorses President Obama for Reelection — Dec 18, 2011 1:52:48 PM
HBCU LAWSUIT UPDATE 12-15-11 — Dec 18, 2011 1:45:25 PM
News Flash — Jun 30, 2011 1:43:50 PM
Maryland to begin settelment talks with HBcus — Jun 21, 2011 2:20:32 PM
HBCU file law suit against — Jun 21, 2011 2:11:29 PM
New Way to Attend meetings online — Jun 12, 2011 11:44:19 AM
— Oct 20, 2009 3:24:23 AM
— Oct 15, 2009 11:00:59 PM
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AFSCME Endorses President Obama for Reelection
posted Dec 18, 2011, 8:52 AM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL
For Immediate Release
AFSCME Endorses President Obama for Reelection
McEntee: “Obama is the only choice for the 99%”
Washington, DC —
The 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, AFL-CIO (AFSCME) announced today their endorsement of Pres. Barack Obama for reelection in 2012. The AFSCME International Executive Board passed a resolution of endorsement at today’s International Executive Board Meeting.
“President Obama is the only choice for the 99%. We must put people back to work, make the 1 percent pay their fair share, and protect Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. President Obama will stand up for working families,” said AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee. “Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have a prescription for the U.S. economy that was written by the same corporate interests that got us into this mess in the first place. We’ve all seen the depths the right-wing extremists governors will go to at the expense of working families, and we certainly don’t need that type of leadership in the White House. The GOP candidates just don’t get it, they are out of touch with reality. We believe that American voters are smarter than that and will say thanks but no thanks to their 1 percent agenda and work to re-elect President Obama to a second term.”
AFSCME’s Executive board voted to endorse today, and will now begin an extensive conversation with members and non-members nationwide. In 2008, AFSCME launched a one-of-a-kind nationwide campaign to elect President Obama. AFSCME recruited more than 40,000 activists, made more than 6 million calls to members and deployed hundreds of staff to 17 key battleground states to ensure a victory.
“It’s unbelievable that the GOP leadership and Presidential candidates are so eager to protect the Bush tax breaks for millionaires that they are willing to cut off benefits for the long-term unemployed and repeal a payroll tax cut,” added Michael Ebersole, a highway maintenance technician for the Florida Department of Transportation and Local 3106 AFSCME member. “President Obama’s call—to invest in innovation and infrastructure that will put people back to work today and build a strong foundation for the future—is what this country needs. I intend to work day and night to ensure this President gets a second term.”
AFSCME's 1.6 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in hundreds of different occupations — from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers — AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families.
posted Dec 18, 2011, 8:45 AM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL
http://www.afro.com/sections/news/national/story.htm?storyid=73441
posted Jun 30, 2011, 9:43 AM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL
June 29,2011
Morgan State Employees ratify and approve its third contract by Unanimous Vote
this marks another step to secure RAISES, RIGHTS AND RESPECT
thanks to the hard work and effort of the bargaining team and supporting members.
Maryland to begin settelment talks with HBcus
posted Jun 21, 2011, 10:20 AM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL
By Tricia Bishop, The Baltimore Sun
10:18 p.m. EDT, June 15, 2011
After nearly five years of litigation, a coalition representing Maryland's historically black public colleges and universities has agreed to discuss a settlement with the state, which it accused in a 2006 lawsuit of discriminatory practices and multiple civil rights violations.
A private hearing between the two sides will be held Monday in Baltimore's U.S. District Court, less than a month before the case is scheduled for trial.
Among the issues likely to be discussed are whether competing programs at "traditionally white" schools should be dismantled and whether black schools are underfunded because of a racist funding formula.
"The state has been saying to us that they are serious and are prepared to make substantial offers, but what specifically that means, I guess we'll find out" on Monday, said Michael D. Jones, a Washington attorney who represents the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education.
"It certainly has the potential to be a significant development," Jones said, but "it's a little bit early to tell whether it, in fact, is or isn't."
David Paulson, a spokesman for the Maryland attorney general's office, said the state intends to enter the discussions in good faith with "the aim to reach a meaningful resolution."
"Nobody can predict the outcome," Paulson said, adding, "It's much better to mediate a settlement than it is to go to trial."
In its lawsuit, the coalition contends that the Maryland Higher Education Commission is still using discriminatory policies and procedures that have roots in segregation and that it has failed to bring the state's four historically black institutions — Morgan, Coppin and Bowie state universities and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore — into parity with the others.
Members have asked for remedies including increased funding and resources and the dismantling of certain competing programs at other schools.
At a hearing last month, Assistant Attorney General Campbell Killefer said that there was no proof of intentional — if any — discrimination. He blamed existing segregation on the marketing materials of historically black schools and questioned the integrity of a coalition expert.
He asked the court to "dismiss the case entirely."
In an 11-page memorandum filed June 6, however, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake rejected Killefer's claims that intent matters in this instance.
The legal standard only requires the plaintiffs to show that allegedly discriminatory policies are traceable to "practices that were instituted in the past for segregative reasons," she wrote. If they can do that, the burden then shifts to the state to prove that there is no discrimination or that there's a "sound educational justification" for it.
The judge specifically ruled that the coalition "presented genuine disputes of material fact" regarding the formula used to fund operational budgets — and its traceability to the segregation era — and whether it was fair for Towson University and the University of Baltimore to expand MBA programs in 2005 over the objection of Morgan State University.
She also found that there was some question about the control historically black schools have over their own destinies, opening the door for those areas to be discussed at trial.
Blake threw out claims that the state intentionally discriminated against Morgan regarding the MBA programs and that the capital budget process is rooted in segregation policies.
"There is not sufficient evidence to go forward," she wrote.
Jones said his legal team plans to file paperwork this week requesting a clarification on the capital-budget ruling and whether it would prevent them from asking for facility improvements that are tied to educational program upgrades.
A day after Blake released her memorandum, the state asked for a conference "to discuss possible mediation," according to a court document.
posted Jun 21, 2011, 10:11 AM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL
Group claims discrimination vs. Maryland's black colleges
Arguments heard on whether federal lawsuit can go forward
May 11, 2011|By Tricia Bishop, The Baltimore Sun
Maryland's four historically black colleges and universities are more segregated today than in decades past because of discriminatory practices and policies maintained by the state's Higher Education Commission, lawyers told a federal court judge Wednesday.
"The result is [that the four colleges] fall farther and farther behind," said John Greenbaum, a civil rights attorney representing an advocacy group that sued the commission.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2006 and since amended four times, contends that the state underfunds black schools, particularly in capital improvement projects, and allows unnecessary duplication of programs by surrounding institutions.
But attorneys for the commission say there's no proof that disparities, if any, are intentional or even the result of policies that have roots in segregation.
"Because they cannot meet that burden [after] lengthy years of litigation, they fail," said Assistant Attorney General Campbell Killifer, who represents the Maryland Higher Education Commission. He concluded that U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake should therefore "dismiss the case entirely."
New Way to Attend meetings online
posted Jun 12, 2011, 7:44 AM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL
1885 now gives you another way to stay informed you can attend meetings online
if you have a web cam and a microphone you can click the link and participate in a live union meeting
no software or downloads required
posted Oct 19, 2009, 11:24 PM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL
posted Oct 15, 2009, 7:00 PM by MORGANSTATE LOCAL