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Baltimore notes tentative AFSCME agreement: phased 25-step pay scale and raises
Summary
The Board of Estimates noted tentative agreements with AFSCME locals that implement a new 25-step pay scale phased over FY26–FY28, with step increases and additional percentage raises, and labor and safety committees to be created.
Labor Commissioner Deborah Moore Carter presented tentative side-letter agreements and a newly developed 25-step wage scale negotiated with AFSCME locals, which the board noted on Nov. 19.
Carter said the scale will be phased: the first 10 steps in FY26, the next 10 in FY27, and the final five in FY28, with step spreads and additional across-the-board percentage increases in later years. She told the board the study that produced the pay scale was conducted by Evergreen and that the city set aside funds to implement the first phase so employees could receive increases before the holidays.
AFSCME representatives praised the contract. Trevor Taylor, a 23-year city employee with Local 44, called the outcome “a long time coming,” and Wendy Smith, president of the local representing registered nurses, said the contract “is historic” and will change how employees come into city government. Mayor Brandon Scott highlighted minimum hourly pay increases and other specific improvements, saying no bargaining-unit worker will earn less than $20 an hour under the agreement and noting hazard-pay and meal-allowance increases.
Board members and administration officials emphasized that implementing the wage scale required budget tradeoffs and cross-department coordination. The Board of Estimates noted the agreements; the item will be part of the city’s ongoing budget and labor-management implementation processes.
