FROM THE BUSINESS MANAGER

Brothers and Sisters,

State and local election campaigns across the country are in full swing. There’s a lot of talk about what should be done and what we need to change. If taxes are lowered will that create more jobs? The short answer is no. There are different types of taxes that we all pay. It’s convenient to forget that a lot of jobs, construction jobs in particular, are created by the taxes collected. Roads that we travel back and forth to work on are constructed and renovated. Federal and state office buildings that house the people that protect and serve us are constructed with those tax dollars. Payroll taxes are similar to the working dues we pay. If you aren’t working you don’t pay them. We need everyone back to work.  

Maryland will elect a Governor this year. Maryland’s present Governor, Martin O’Malley, has done a good job for working people like us over the last four years. After careful consideration and review we believe that he deserves to be Governor for the next four years. Under his leadership the past four years we have made gains in apprenticeship training, prevailing wage enforcement and stopping contractor misclassification abuses. His opponent, Bob Ehrlich, gutted the state office of prevailing wage during his term of office. This hurt all construction workers across the state of Maryland. Thank Ehrlich for the problems with state construction projects in Maryland. It will take another four years to undo the damage that Ehrlich did in his one term in office. We cannot allow this to happen again.  

There are some things that we as your union representatives cannot do for you. One of them is vote. Politics is a lot like life. It’s not perfect. Choices have to be made. It’s important to remember that we are making a choice if we don’t vote. Brothers and Sisters we cannot afford the consequences of staying at home on Election Day.

One of the things that you should expect from us, your elected union representatives, is to carefully examine all the information available on candidates and let you know what we have found. We have done that. Now we need your help. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s your vote.  

On a positive note one of our own, Business Agent Clifton Savoy is a candidate for the Calvert County School Board. Right now Cliff can use all the help he can get in his run for the school board.

                                                         In solidarity, 

                                                         John R. Shields, Jr.