American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 3 President Patrick Moran. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.
Just a year after a board was created to oversee labor relations in state government, the Moore administration is scrambling to fill key vacancies in the agency — including the chairperson’s job, which became open last month.
Leaders of the state’s biggest public employee unions say they still have high hopes for the new Maryland Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). But they fret that the agency hasn’t been fully built out yet, and fear it could wind up delaying anticipated organizing efforts for state workers.
“Without a full-time chair this board is just stagnant,” said Sean Johnson, executive director of the Maryland State Education Association, the teachers’ union.
PERB went live on July 1, 2023, after the General Assembly passed legislation last year to consolidate three separate boards that oversaw state labor relations and collective bargaining negotiations into one entity.
The new board took on the duties previously handled by the State Labor Relations Board, which conducted contract negotiations for many state agencies; the State Higher Education Labor Relations Board, which handled negotiations at state college campuses; and the Public School Labor Relations Board, which oversaw certain public school employee negotiations.
The new board was set up with five members appointed by the governor — two recommended by public employee unions and two recommended by leaders of state agencies. The chair, who sets the agency agenda, is considered a full-time employee who earns about $100,000 a year, while the other board members earn $20,000 annual stipends.
Longshoremen put strike on hold, reopen ports on East and Gulf coasts
After less than 14 months in the position, the PERB chair, Michael Hayes, resigned last month. Hayes, a former high-ranking official at the National Labor Relations Board and professor at the University of Baltimore Law School, told Maryland Matters in an email that he resigned for “personal/family reasons.”
“I admired the other Board Members, and four staffers with whom I worked, especially the longtime Executive Director Erica L. Snipes,” he wrote.
Administration officials said they are speaking to potential candidates about replacing Hayes as PERB chair.
“I would like to thank Michael Hayes for his service to the state as the head of the Public Employee Relations Board,” Gov. Wes Moore said in an email provided to Maryland Matters. “Public servants like him are what propel the administration to create bold initiatives that make Maryland safer, more affordable, more competitive, and the state that serves.”
At the first monthly board meeting after Hayes’ resignation, another board member, Judith Rivlin, a mediator for unions, filled in as chair, though the meeting only lasted five minutes. More recently, Snipes, the director of the new entity who had been executive director of the old State Labor Relations Board, was temporarily invested with the powers of the board chair, at least for administrative purposes — though she won’t have a vote on board opinions.
Under these circumstances, the board should be able to operate as normal, Snipes said — but she conceded that it’s not altogether clear what happens if there’s a tied vote on a board with just four members.
Hayes’ resignation didn’t create the only vacancy at the agency. The legislation creating the new body, sponsored by Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s) and Sen. Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel), called on the board to hire three deputies. Two of those positions remain unfilled.
In fact, the agency successfully sought legislation this year that changed the proposed duties of the deputies from the original law, among other things. The bill envisioned each deputy having expertise in one of three areas: executive branch labor relations, higher education labor relations and public school labor relations.
Lawmakers blast ‘woefully inadequate’ response by department officials to parole agent’s killing
But Snipes said it made more sense, given the board’s workflow, for the deputies to be more like generalists and not specialize in particular areas.
“Based on our experience, as we were starting out, we didn’t want to be limited,” she said.
Patrick Moran, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 3, the largest union for state workers in Maryland, said labor leaders plan to forward a recommendation for a board chair to Moore’s appointments office and hope the administration moves swiftly, because several high-profile negotiations are already under way for state workers, with more to follow, as workers in an increasing number of state agencies begin to organize.
“AFSCME’s goal now is to support the Moore administration in filling the vacancy promptly with an experienced individual who is capable of carrying out its urgent work,” Moran said. “Even before Mr. Hayes’ departure the PERB was having difficulty in advancing matters expeditiously and consistent with the law and/or best practices. The need for a full-time board chair is more necessary than ever.”
Moran said the law that created the board, the Public Employee Relations Act, envisioned a leader who is “an energetic and proactive enforcer” of the legislation.
“It requires a chair with a deep knowledge of, and respect for, labor law,” he said. “It requires a chair who can effectively manage. It requires a full-time active and motivated chair to implement PERA and accomplish the state’s goal, and organized labor’s goal, of modernizing and professionalizing state labor law and the agency tasked with enforcing it.”
Johnson of MSEA said the teachers’ union was excited when Hayes came on as chair and is seeking someone equally knowledgeable and qualified to take over.
“Our short-term expectations are that we get a highly qualified full-time chair as quickly as possible,” he said. “Failure to do so will lead to some delays and inefficiencies that we saw with the previous three boards.”