Annapolis, MD—This Labor Day, Larry Hogan will march in Montgomery County parades in an effort to make Marylanders forget about his anti-labor record. But here’s the truth:
Hogan Vetoed Earned Sick Leave for Workers
In 2017, Larry Hogan vetoed a measure to provide paid sick leave to 700,000 Maryland workers that was the product of measured compromises and years of study and negotiations. The bill also provided safe leave for workers to seek help to deal with domestic abuse or sexual assault.
In an effort to squash the chances of passing future effective paid sick leave legislation, Hogan created a secret anti-worker task force that refused to publicize its meetings and took input from big business before releasing a report that was conveniently skeptical of the sick leave plan Hogan vetoed. The Baltimore Sun editorial board blasted the commission as “a closed group of members of [Hogan’s] administration — and it showed,” noting that its report “spends page after page finding things to criticize about the Democrats’ bill that are neither here nor there.”
The legislature voted to override Hogan’s veto in the 2018 General Assembly session.
Maryland Workers’ Wages Have Lagged Behind Neighbors Last Four Years
While Hogan likes to brag that he’s turned around Maryland economy, the facts tell a different story. Below is Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing Maryland workers have lost out on thousands of earnings increases compared to neighboring states and the country as a whole.
|
|
TOTAL Earnings Increase 2015-2018 |
|
National |
$5,151.96 |
|
Maryland |
$424.67 |
|
Virginia |
$8,274.74 |
|
Pennsylvania |
$3,930.12 |
|
Delaware |
$16,475.61 |
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Hogan Called Teachers “Union Thugs”
One of Larry Hogan’s ugliest moments in office came in 2016 when he lashed out at teachers criticizing his decision to withhold school funding for the second year in a row. In response to a comment on Facebook, Hogan wrote, “Don’t believe this phony ‘cut’ propaganda from the union thugs.”
To put that in perspective, “thug” is the same word he has used to describe Vladimir Putin. Leadership of the Maryland State Education Association, the state’s largest educators union, is comprised of teachers and education support professionals democratically elected by their peers, including a former Baltimore County teacher of the year.
Hogan Proposed Pay Freezes for State Employees
Larry Hogan has consistently worked against AFSCME Maryland’s effort to keep state employee pay on pace with cost-of-living increases.
In Larry Hogan’s FY2016 budget proposal in January 2015, he proposed cancelling a cost-of-living increase for state employees. The Baltimore Sun wrote, “State employees, who after years of pay freezes got a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment in January, would lose that increase as of July 1. In addition, they would not receive a COLA or merit raises next year.” Legislators of both parties worked hard to find money in the budget to reverse this pay cut.
In 2017, Hogan again proposed freezing state employee pay in his FY2018 budget. He likely would have done so again in 2018 if it wasn’t for neutral fact-finders who recommended that state employees receive fair pay for their work. The Baltimore Sun wrote, “Fact-finders brought into collective bargaining talks between the state and its employee unions have recommended wage increases for the union members — and rejected the Hogan administration’s proposal to make raises contingent upon the state exceeding revenue projections.”
Hogan Tried to Weaken Collective Bargaining
In 2015 and 2017, Gov. Hogan introduced legislation to weaken collective bargaining for teachers in charter schools. The Baltimore Sun wrote in 2015, “Zachary Carey, a middle school science teacher at the City Springs charter school in Southeast Baltimore, said he opposes the provision of the Hogan bill exempting the schools from the collective bargaining agreement covering all Baltimore teachers. Democrats in legislature rewrote the bill and passed a version without the provision.
In 2017, Hogan introduced another attempt to water down charter school accountability, including stripping charter school teachers of their collective bargaining rights. The legislature quickly voted it down.