HB65 is Del. Steve Johnson’s bill to provide collective bargaining rights to some
employees of public libraries. Similar employees in Baltimore County have these rights. HB65 would extend library collective bargaining statewide. It provides for rights to form and participate in unions and restrains anyone from interfering with exercise of these rights.
Dels. Johnson and Lorig Charkoudian will appear before the Appropriations Committee of the House of Delegates to present the bill on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. Citizens may submit electronic testimony. Contact Del. Johnson’s office at 410-841-3280 or Steve.Johnson@house.state.md.us for further information about the bill and the testimony process. Citizens can also submit a letter in support of the legislation on the Action Network.
Most employees of the State of MD have the right to form unions, to participate in employee organizations and to bargain collectively. HB65 would give those rights to certain job classes of library public employees in MD. Now those rights can only be established county-by-county. Harford County library employees presently do not have the right to unionize nor to bargain collectively.
The MD Library Association was an important component of the coalition for comparable worth. Pay for librarians increased under an overhaul of the state pay plan decades ago as required by legislation sponsored by then-Del. Barbara Osborn Kreamer. The MD Library Association can be reached at 410-947-5090 or mla@mdlib.org.