AFSCME to Blue Collar Workers: Pound Sand
AFSCME's kvetching about Hogan's ruling speaks volumes about Union Priorities
Yesterday the Hogan Administration announced a new policy important to state workers:
Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday that the state of Maryland will drop the requirements for a four-year college degree for thousands of state jobs.
"As a lifelong small businessman, I know that a growing economy goes hand-in-hand with a flourishing workforce, which is why we're launching an effort to make Maryland the first state in the nation to eliminate the 4-year college degree requirement from thousands of state jobs," Hogan said.
The state of Maryland employs more than 38,000 people. The Maryland Department of Budget and Management said candidates can substitute a four-degree with relevant experience, training, and/or community college education for more than half of those positions. The state said there are currently more than 300 open positions that do not require a four-year college degree.
“There are over 1 million Marylanders who do not have bachelor’s degrees, but do have skills for jobs that are in demand by both the State of Maryland and other employers," Auguste said.
To say this is a big deal is a big understatement. A lot of jobs in Maryland’s public sector have been closed off to Marylanders solely on the basis of not having a college education. It is a remnant of Democratic policies which prioritized the act of having a college degree ahead of having a useful and practical education.
Not all jobs require a college education and the fact that so many Marylanders were turned away from those jobs based not on their skills or competence but on their lack of a piece of paper is problematic.
Know who isn’t happy about this? Unions. And for more than a few reasons:
Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Council 3, said that the union, which represents the majority of the state’s public workers, was blindsided by Hogan’s announcement. Union leaders expressed disappointment over Hogan’s decision not to consult the union about ways to improve employee recruitment and retention in a staffing crisis.
So, partially, AFSCME chief Patrick Moran is mad because Larry Hoga didn’t ask him for permission to do this. After eight years, Democratic leaders still haven’t adjusted to the fact that the Governor doesn’t need their permission to make changes to the Executive Branch.
And yet, what’s even more insidious is this:
“It is unfortunate that the Hogan administration is deskilling state services. This is another poor attempt to suppress wages and reduce the quality of state services in Maryland,” Moran said in a statement. “Thousands of state employees worked hard to gain the knowledge and skill set to gain state employment and work for the people of Maryland only to have the Hogan administration pull the rug out from under them.”
This is appalling. The Hogan Administration is not “deskilling” state services. In fact, the skill of state employees in those jobs reclassified will likely increase, not decrease, from the removal of the college degree requirement.
Think of it as an example from the military. When soldiers graduate from West Point or from ROTC, they are commissioned as Second Lieutenants. These 2LTs may have a college education, but they do not have real-world experience. Do you know who success Lieutenants listen to? Their Platoon Sergeant who has important practical skills and practical experience, the kind of experience that a degree does not confer.
It’s ludicrous to me that Moran as the head of AFSCME would besmirch those state employees who don’t have college degrees as unskilled, especially considering the number of AFSCME Locals that Moran’s own Council 3 covers that consist mainly of workers that do not have college degrees.
Hogan Spokesman Mike Ricci says it best:
“This initiative will likely do more to help open doors and expand opportunities for state workers than anything Pat Moran has ever done,” the spokesman, Mike Ricci, said.
Realistically, Moran is against this mainly because of one thing: money. Moran has himself convinced that reclassification of the jobs will lead to lower wages. Lower wages would mean lower union dues and lower union dues mean less money in the pocket of Moran and his union. And the union having less money means reduced political power. And if we know anything about modern unions it’s that political power is at the top of their hierarchy of needs at the same their membership remains leadership’s lowest priority.
It will be interesting to see what AFSCME endorsed Tom Perez has to say about this.
The union was built on blue-collar workers who went to work after high school and not white-collar workers with a degree. And yet, it is those same blue-collar workers that the labor movement claims to hold in high regard who are insulted in this way by a prominent union leader.