MCEA Supervisors United is a campaign of the Maryland Classified Employees Association to organize supervisors who work for the State of Maryland into a new collective bargaining unit. We aim to achieve recognition as the exclusive bargaining representative for supervisors across the state. By doing so, we will have a powerful voice at work that will help us to work together to win improvements to our pay, benefits, leave, scheduling, and many other policies that affect us.
For too long, supervisors have been ignored. Without collective bargaining, we’ve seen our pay fall behind and our workloads increase. With the passage of collective bargaining rights, which took effect in October 2024, we can finally win the respect we deserve by organizing together with MCEA Supervisors United.
Since 1935, MCEA has advocated for the rights of Maryland public employees, and since the beginning, our membership has included many supervisors. We have a long history of fighting for the rights of public employees, winning things like the first sick leave, paid vacation, and pension laws in the 1930s and 40s. And through our affiliated state and national unions, we work to tackle the student debt crisis, drive down healthcare costs, and ensure a secure retirement for all.
Now, with the expansion of collective bargaining rights to supervisors, we have a powerful new tool to continue to work to improve our conditions.
MCEA proudly represents public employees across Maryland, including those in counties, higher education, and state supervisors. Our rich history demonstrates our commitment to advocating for our members. Importantly, MCEA Supervisors United will be a union of supervisors, for supervisors, ensuring there is no conflict of interest in our representation — MCEA does not bargain for the state employees that supervisors supervise. We are dedicated to addressing supervisors' unique needs and interests.
To win a strong contract that wins us the respect we deserve, we need every supervisor to play a role. That can start small — voting for MCEA in the upcoming union election — but we need supervisors in every agency and worksite across the state to do their part in talking to coworkers and building a strong union.
You can help by:
Contact us today to learn more and get started.
In collective bargaining, our employer – the State of Maryland – is obligated to sit down and negotiate with us as equals over the terms and conditions of our employment. Our union would select a negotiating team that will meet with representatives of the State to discuss things like wage increases, improvements to scheduling and leave policies, ensuring adequate staffing to fulfill our mission, and many other issues. Once we reach agreement on those issues and union members have voted to ratify that agreement, we would then have a binding contract, known as a collective bargaining agreement, that our employer is required to adhere to.
As it stands now, our employer is free to decide those things unilaterally, with no input from us – and that’s just not fair.
MCEA has already qualified for the upcoming union election, thanks to the support of the many supervisors who signed authorization cards. The next step is for a strong majority to vote for MCEA in the election. Then, once the Maryland Public Employee Relations Board certifies our union, we can begin contract negotiations over all the issues we care about.
There are thousands of supervisors spread out all across the state, and we need to talk to all of them. To be successful, we need every supervisor to play a role in building our union. If you can help out by talking to a few coworkers or hosting a meeting, contact us now to get started.
Collective bargaining is the most effective way to ensure our voices are heard at work, allowing us to advocate for our professions and the public services we provide.
Through collective bargaining, we can negotiate a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the state that covers wages and working conditions. Most importantly, a CBA ensures we have a seat at the table, requiring management to collaborate with us to reach agreements on issues that affect our work.
Labor management committees are one powerful tool we would have to address workplace issues that affect our jobs on a day-to-day basis. The committees operate both locally within specific worksites and agencies, as well as a larger committee that reaches across that state to tackle broader issues impacting all supervisors at every agency.
Questions? Fill out the form below to reach out.