Come Out to Vote and Join Us Today At the Convention Center!

It might be this bright, but it will be chilly!

Members of the Ocean City Employees Coalition will be outside the convention this morning, encouraging folks to vote for the charter amendment and answering questions for any residents looking for more information.  Please join us, and please remember to vote!  Remember, voting FOR the charter amendment does NOT give the employees the union – it just gives the general employees to make the choice for themselves whether they would like collective bargaining or not, just like the police, firefighters, and EMT.  The ballot question will look like this:

A replica of the ballot – please vote FOR the amendment!

Thank you and we will see you there!

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!

Another Successful Saturday!

Thanks to everyone who helped us knock on doors again this past Saturday – we were able to reach many more voters, and those we talked to were overwhelmingly supportive!  Please remember to get out and vote on Tuesday, and help us to achieve the right to decide for ourselves whether we would like to bargain collectively, just like the police, firefighters, and EMT!

Join Us For Another Walk This Saturday!

Wondering how you can help to make sure general employees are given the chance to decide for themselves if they want collective bargaining or not?  Come out tomorrow from 9:30AM-5:00PM and join us as we go throughout Ocean City to knock on doors, talk with voter, and get the word out that a vote FOR the charter amendment is a vote to give the general employees a voice in their own situation!  We’ll be meeting at our office space, 11805B Coastal Highway, and going out from there!  You can also check the event out on Facebook!

Praise Continues For Ocean City Employees

Crews of General Employees were out early this morning continuing the clean up from Hurricane Sandy.

Ocean City employees continued to receive many compliments this morning for their efforts in quickly and efficiently cleaning up from this week’s storm.  On OC 104 this morning (103.9 WOCQ) on the Hip-Hop Coffee Shop Show, one of the hosts, Bill Baker, observed that the employees of Ocean City were doing a great job, and Mayor Rick Meehan responded that the employees have done an extraordinary job with the clean up efforts, including collaborating with state agencies, and how the town should be grateful for all of their efforts.

In the Ocean City Today, in the Public Eye section, Stewart Dobson praised Ocean City employees who were cleaning up in his neighborhood, and a letter-writer singled out Ocean City Transportation workers for thanks for a job well done.  The picture above was taken this morning, as crews of general employees were out ensuring that the Boardwalk would be cleaned up and ready for traffic again come the weekend.

Please remember to support these city workers by voting FOR the charter amendment, and please remember that a vote FOR doesn’t automatically give them the union – it just gives them the right to decide for themselves.  It gives them the democratic voice they deserve!

A Successful Saturday!

On Saturday, October 27th, with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on us, a group of Ocean City general employees and other volunteers spread out across town to get the word out about the ballot question residents are facing.  Thanks to the work of the employees and the volunteers who joined them, we were able to talk with over 300 residents on Saturday, with an overwhelming majority expressing support for the charter amendment.  Thanks to all who volunteered, and thanks especially to those employees who couldn’t be with us because they were called in to work to prepare Ocean City for the worst of the hurricane.  They did a wonderful job, by all accounts, and thanks in large part to their efforts, Ocean City was spared some of the destruction that was visited upon other seaside towns on the Eastern seaboard.

Thanks for checking in with us, and please remember to support your town employees on November 6th by voting “FOR” the charter amendment!

Join Us Saturday!

Wondering what you can do to help the effort to get Ocean City town employees the right to decide if they want collective bargaining for themselves?  Come to our office this Saturday at 10:00AM (it’s in the shopping center with the Food Lion at 11805 Coastal Highway, Ocean City MD 21842); we have teams of people going out to knock on doors and spread the message.  Call Christine (202)486-2356 or Andrew Dixon (267)342-0328 for more details!

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!

A Preview of the Ballot

The Ocean City Ballot Question

The above image is exactly how the ballot question will appear for Ocean City Voters on November 6th.  Click the image to see it full size.  Remember, voting FOR simply allows the town employees to choose for themselves if they wish to collectively bargain or not – it does NOT automatically give them a union.

Please vote FOR giving the town employees the right to choose for themselves!