A slate of insurgent candidates shook up today’s hotly contested AFSCME Local 44 election, with sanitation worker Stancil McNair apparently taking the top spot and at least two other races ending in runoffs.

McNair defeated Local 44 Vice President Trevor Taylor, who was running for president, with 125 votes to Taylor’s 103, according to a written vote tally shared with The Brew.

“I’m ready to work,” McNair said, after declaring victory outside the union hall. “That’s it. My wheels are already turning.”

AFSCME officials were not available to confirm the election results.

Vice President Taylor immediately left the union hall after the vote, and other union officials did not respond to requests for comment tonight.

McNair’s election represents a sea change for the local, which has faced criticism from its own members for not fighting for improved working conditions and wages.

Municipal sanitation workers have some of the lowest wages in city government, with a beginning salary scale that’s slightly more than the wage of a fast-food worker.

“The old regime that they got in there now – they have to go,” said Ron Sims, a foreman with 20 years on the job.

• Showdown coming between sanitation worker activists and their union at Local 44 election tomorrow (8/22/25)

Sims compared McNair’s campaign to that of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott: “The mayor came in with fresh ideas, and he’s trying to make it better. It’s the same way for the union. New people, new ideas. With the help of the members, we can make the union and the city a better place.”

A Brew reporter who approached AFSCME’s headquarters ahead of Saturday’s vote was asked to leave the building by Stuart Katzenberg, AFSCME Maryland Council 3’s director of growth and collective bargaining.

“This is private property,” he stated, physically blocking the entrance as the reporter walked toward the building.

Katzenberg also insisted that the reporter not be in the parking lot outside the building, where workers had gathered before the vote.

But many were happy to cross the street to share their concerns about the current leadership.

Widespread Dissatisfaction

“They do the bare minimum,” said Mitchell Dean Sr., who works as a welder at the Department of General Services. “You pay them union dues, and they do not fight for you the way they’re supposed to.”

Dean ran for a seat on the local’s executive board, and his race ended in a runoff, he said.

Ricardo Ward, who ran for vice president alongside Stancil, will also face a runoff. Several members of McNair’s “dream team” did win seats on the executive board, he said.

Throughout the day, union members said that front-line workers from the sanitation department – “the trash guys out there busting their asses,” as one man put it – should lead Local 44.

• BREW SPECIAL SERIES: Unsafe conditions for city workers

The issue of better working conditions became acute following two on-the-job deaths: Ronald Silver II, who collapsed and died of heat exhaustion during a sweltering shift on a city garbage truck last August, and Timothy Cartwell, who was crushed between his garbage truck and a light pole in November.

McNair said he will strive to improve on-the-job safety and will follow up on reports by Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming, who documented the hazardous conditions faced by the city’s solid waste crews in a series of reports.

“We are for the people,” McNair said. “Every time I come in and I see something ain’t right, I’m going to address it immediately.”

Tentative Contract

The election comes a day after Local 44 announced a tentative contract agreement reached with the city. The deal, which still needs to be ratified by membership, calls for a 19% wage increase over the course of a three-year contract, higher hazard pay and an improved salary scale.

Though the insurgent candidates expressed concerns that the details of the agreement were released in order to give current union leaders a boost in today’s election, several workers said they were pleased with the deal.

“The contract is phenomenal,” said Valrie Matthews, a DPW employee who said she voted for Taylor to lead the union.

“Mr. Taylor has the ins-and-outs of what’s going on with the union, and he is fully aware of what it takes to be the president,” Matthews said. “I’m sorry to say that the other side doesn’t. They haven’t been there long enough to actually have learned the process.”

“It wasn’t easy for us being outsiders to knock off the top dog”  – Clarence Thomas.

Minutes after winning the presidency, McNair invited a reporter onto the previously forbidden AFSCME parking lot so she could speak with him and other successful candidates. Dean, who still faces a runoff, said Saturday’s election was an important win for all city workers.

“Now we got people that are gonna listen to our voice,” he said.

Clarence Thomas, a longtime solid waste worker who made an unsuccessful try for the vice president position, was disappointed by his loss, but he lauded McNair and the others who fought to gain a foothold in Local 44.

“Salute to my guy Stancil – he takes and gets his shine,” Thomas said. “Now it’s time for his team to celebrate and get to work.”

“Proud of everybody,” he continued. “It wasn’t easy for us being outsiders to knock off the top dog. It happened though.”