On Monday, Gov. Larry Hogan announced additional actions to address the current surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations, including measures to safeguard the health of state employees and citizens entering state buildings and facilities.

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Hogan will announce additional COVID-19 actions.

According to Hogan, the state has completed historic agreements with the two largest state employee unions that will lead to significant salary increases and additional benefits for members of the Maryland Professional Employees Council Local 6197 (MPEC) and AFSCME Maryland Council 3.

“Today we are taking another series of actions to address the current surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations, and we will continue to take every action necessary to help our hospitals and keep people safe,” Hogan said. “In addition, we have successfully completed historic agreements with all of the unions, and I want to thank all hardworking state employees for their dedicated service.”

AGREEMENTS WITH STATE EMPLOYEE UNIONS

The agreements with MPEC and AFSCME — which represent approximately 23,000 state employees — signify the conclusion of annual negotiations, resulting in agreements with all state employee unions. Specifically, the MPEC and AFSCME agreements provide:

– Jan. 1, 2022: a $1,000 bonus, a 1% cost of living adjustment (COLA), and a make-up increment of approximately 2% for employees who did not receive an increment in the past fiscal year;

– July 1, 2022: a 3% COLA;

– July 1, 2022: Regular increments of approximately 2% in FY 23; and

– July 1, 2023: a 2% COLA.

This announcement follows agreements reached with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), State Law Enforcement Officers Labor Alliance (SLEOLA), BWI Airport Firefighters Local 142, and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Healthcare in December.

TODAY’S COVID-19 ACTIONS

Face Covering Requirement For State Buildings