Praise for Employees Crosses Many Divides

Praise for Ocean City Employees Was A Theme of Tonight’s Town Council Meeting

At the final town council meeting for Ocean City before tomorrow’s election, council members, top-ranking officials, and residents seemed to be in a competition for who could offer the most heartfelt praise of the work of Ocean City employees in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.  City manager David Recor praised the employees in his comments near the end of the meeting, citing their effort as one of the keys to how Ocean City was able to come through the storm suffering relatively little structural damage.  Joe Groves, a spokesman for the Citizens for Ocean City group, lauded town employees as “the greatest employees in the world.”  Even councilman Joe Hall got in on the act, echoing the sentiments that were often the dominant theme of the meeting.  Mayor Rick Meehan, for his part, singled out the efforts of the Public Works department as particularly worthy of attention in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Agree with the sentiments expressed last night, and looking for a way to say “thank you” to all the town employees for their tireless efforts in cleaning up after last week’s storm?  Go to the polls tomorrow and vote YES on the charter amendment, and give the general employees the right to decide for themselves if they want collective bargaining or not, just like their colleagues in the police, fire, and emergency medical departments!

A New Endorsement!

In the September 21st edition of the Maryland Coast Dispatch, the President of the Career Fire Fighter Paramedics Association of Ocean City, IAFF Local 4269, wrote a letter to the editor endorsing a “FOR” vote to give the town general employees the right to choose for themselves whether they want collective bargaining.  He writes, in part:

Collective bargaining is a voice in the workplace. It facilitates open constructive communications between the employee representative group and the employer regarding issues such as pay, health care, retirement, worker safety and other work conditions. The IAFF (firefighters) and FOP (police) unions in Ocean City have shared a good relationship with the city. We work together with mutual respect and understanding to make fair decisions in the best interest of everyone, especially the citizens.

We don’t strike, walkout, picket, etc. not only because our contracts and labor code forbid it, but because we are also part of the community, tax paying citizens like you, middle class, trying to make a decent living. We also care about our town and our careers.

We thank Mr. Marykrantz and the members of IAF Local 4269 for this endorsement.  Our town works because we do!  Please support our right to determine for ourselves if we wish to bargain collectively by voting “FOR” the charter amendment on November 6th!