City Union of Baltimore Sets Informational Sessions Before Contract Ratification Vote

The City Union of Baltimore's bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement with the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, and the AFT-affiliated union is holding informational sessions through March 17 before putting the contract to a ratification vote next week.

The sessions, running at various locations and times between March 10 and 17, are open to all CUB-represented employees. The full meeting schedule is available through the union's website. While any represented employee can attend the informational sessions, voting rights are restricted: only CUB dues-paying members may cast a ballot on whether to ratify the agreement.

That vote is scheduled for Thursday, March 19, from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the CUB Office at 2117 N Howard St in Baltimore.

The union announced the tentative agreement in a notice to members, saying the bargaining team "has reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, which will impact our City employees." The notice did not disclose the substantive terms of the agreement, stating instead that the union is "working diligently to put together all the details of this agreement" to present at the upcoming worksite information meetings.

The CUB ratification process is unfolding separately from a contract agreement announced by three AFSCME locals also representing Baltimore City employees. AFSCME Local 44, Local 558, and Local 2202 previously reached a tentative agreement with the city covering a three-year period from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2028. Together, those three locals represent nearly 2,200 employees across the Department of Public Works, Recreation and Parks, the Health Department, and the Mayor's Office of Children and Family Success.

Charmanique Gingles, a Nurse Educator for the Health Department and an AFSCME Local 558 member, praised that agreement's provisions. "I am pleased that the new union contract will ensure pay increases on a step scale in addition to cost of living adjustments," Gingles said. "This new contract also addresses health and safety issues, which will allow Local 558 members to safely provide medical care and health services to students and the community."

Arthur King, a CDL Driver II for the Department of Transportation and an AFSCME Local 44 member, called the AFSCME deal a long-overdue milestone. "This contract is an unprecedented achievement for our union and our members that is many years in the making," King said. "We're finally going to have a competitive pay scale, and we're going to be able to improve retention rates so that people are able to stay here for the long haul."

The sources reviewed for this story did not confirm whether the CUB and AFSCME agreements share identical provisions or were negotiated as part of a coordinated city-wide bargaining effort. CUB has not yet released the full text of its tentative agreement; members are expected to receive that detail during this week's information sessions ahead of the March 19 vote.