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Salsbury council advances charter amendment to repeal collective bargaining authorization as residents protest
Summary
Council moved a charter amendment (first reading) that would repeal the city's collective bargaining authorization; dozens of employees and union leaders urged the council to preserve bargaining rights, arguing loss would harm safety, retention and workplace fairness.
The Salsbury City Council on April 27 advanced a charter amendment for first reading that would repeal the city's provision authorizing collective bargaining, drawing a sustained public outcry from city employees, union leaders and residents.
Council members read Charter Amendment Resolution 2026-3 for first reading and signaled approval to move it forward. The resolution, as presented, would "repeal article 23 in its entirety and abrogate all collective bargaining rights," council staff said during the reading. The measure will return later for a public hearing and a second reading before any final change to the charter is adopted.
The move prompted dozens of public comments. Anissa Pierce Cessums, who identified herself as executive vice president with Ask Me Council 3, urged the council to preserve workers' bargaining rights: "I respectfully ask this council to stand with the workers of this community and preserve their collective bargaining rights." Christian Goal of ASME Maryland Council 3 told the council the trend across Maryland has been expansion of bargaining rights and warned that rescinding local rights would make Salsbury an outlier.
Union leaders and rank-and-file employees framed the issue as more than wages. Brandon Records, president of Salsbury Firefighters Local 4246, said collective bargaining protects promotion procedures, retirements and workplace safeguards, calling it "not a money grab" but a process that secures ‘‘real securities in all aspects of our jobs." Several speakers, including firefighters and public-works employees, warned rescinding bargaining would worsen recruitment and retention of essential staff.
City administrators countered that the council faces difficult fiscal choices. City administrator Nick Rice had warned in the budget presentation earlier in the evening that "current revenue levels do not fully support the increases that we are proposing," citing rising health-insurance costs and other pressures. Mayor and administration representatives told the council they are seeking options to put the city on more sustainable financial footing.
Speakers urged alternatives to rescinding rights: using arbitration, negotiating changes at the bargaining table, pursuing annexation or other revenue strategies, and commissioning third-party fiscal analyses. Several commentators also pressed county officials to pay a larger share for services provided outside city limits.
What happens next: the charter amendment was advanced for first reading and will return to the council for a public hearing and a second reading before any change to collective bargaining rights takes effect. Council members said they will continue deliberations in public sessions and the administration said it will provide additional financial detail during upcoming budget work sessions.
