MontCo Bargaining Bills Derided as "Political Theater"

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Calling them “an empty façade,” “hypocritical” and “political theater,” UFCW/MCGEO President blasted a trio of Montgomery County collective bargaining bills yesterday at a packed Council hearing. The bills -- 18-11, 19-11 and 20-11 – would “turn the collective bargaining process into a three-ring circus,” Renne warned County Council-members. He called the bills “a waste of the County’s resources and an affront to taxpayers and County workers to once again devote more time and money to nibble around the edges trying to devise new ways to hobble the collective bargaining law.” Renne pointed out that collective bargaining for Montgomery County workers has been evolving since the early 1970s and that the current system replaced an ineffective “meet and confer” system with 1986 legislation that adopted full-scale negotiations on economics and working conditions. Considering the issue more broadly, Metro Council President Jos Williams added that he’s found it “disappointing and deeply frustrating this year to find these sorts of attacks on public workers occurring here in Montgomery County,” suggesting that “whatever it is that’s infected the body politic in Wisconsin, in Ohio and in New Jersey seems to have seeped into Montgomery County as well. Maybe it’s a virus in the water. The people who work for you – county employees and indeed all public workers – are not the enemy," said Williams. "They’re taxpayers and consumers and they’re voters, too. We need to work together to solve the common economic problems we face. If we do not, the county will suffer, as will the workers and ultimately, you too will have to face the political consequences." ” Among those also testifying against the bills were Jean Athey of Fund Our Communities, Elbridge James, Maryland NAACP, and Rion Dennis,  Executive Director of Progressive Maryland.
Photo (l-r): Jos Williams, Jean Athey, Elbridge James, Gino Renne, Rion Dennis; photo by Greg Kenefick