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Two new public employee unions had extra cause to celebrate this Labor Day weekend.
New faculty unions at Howard Community College and Frederick Community College were certified and recognized last week under a state law governing unionization on community college campuses.
Howard and Frederick are the first community college faculties in Maryland to organize after the General Assembly passed a collective bargaining bill in 2021, over the veto of former Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
On Wednesday, the full-time faculty at the campuses were recognized as members of AFT-Maryland by the state Public Employee Relations Board.
The unions were formed under a new “card check” law, through which unions are recognized if more than 50% of bargaining unit members sign authorization cards saying they’d like to join.
After months of organizing, more than 80% of the 170 faculty members at Howard Community College and 100 faculty members at Frederick submitted cards to the board on Aug. 21.
The American Federation of Teachers Maryland now represents about 18,000 employees across the state.
The community colleges are among 54 new units organized this year by the AFT, the nation’s largest higher education union. Its total membership is now at a record high of 1.72 million, union leaders said.
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