SALISBURY, Md. - Organizers seeking to preserve collective bargaining rights for Salisbury city employees say they have submitted thousands of petition signatures to the city, marking the next step in an effort that could eventually put the issue before voters.
Shore Progress announced Monday that supporters had turned in what it says are more than 6,000 signatures collected over 37 days. The organization said the effort was supported by labor unions including AFSCME Maryland Council 3, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the Fraternal Order of Police, community organizations, and local leaders.
According to Shore Progress, the signatures represent residents who support maintaining collective bargaining rights for Salisbury's first responders and public employees. The organization said the petition now moves into the verification process before it could appear on a future ballot.
In a separate statement, AFSCME Maryland Council 3 said approximately 2,000 petition pages were submitted Monday. The union said the petitions will be reviewed through the required verification process and expressed confidence that enough valid signatures were collected to allow voters to decide whether to retain collective bargaining rights.
"We look forward to moving on to the next stage of this process so that the voters of Salisbury can officially have their voices heard at the ballot box," AFSCME said in its statement.
The petition drive follows months of debate over collective bargaining in Salisbury.
Earlier this year, the Salisbury City Council voted to repeal collective bargaining rights for certain city employees. Opponents of that decision launched the petition effort in an attempt to suspend the repeal and ultimately allow voters to decide the issue in a referendum.
Supporters of collective bargaining, including AFSCME and Shore Progress, have argued the process gives city employees a voice in negotiating wages, benefits and working conditions. They have also said preserving those rights is important for recruiting and retaining public employees and first responders.
Meanwhile, Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor has maintained that changes to the city's collective bargaining system are necessary to protect the city's long-term financial stability. In previous statements, Taylor has argued that collective bargaining agreements have increased personnel costs at a pace that outstrips new city revenue, limiting the city's ability to fund other priorities.
In response to Monday's announcement, the mayor's office said it intends to allow the petition process to proceed.
"The petition process is a two-step process of both signing and then verifying those signatures," Taylor said in a statement to WBOC. "The Mayor's Office will allow this process to continue to run its course."
The number of signatures submitted by petition organizers has not yet been verified by election officials. The petitions must complete the required verification process before any referendum on the issue can move forward.
