In do-over election, sanitation worker Stancil McNair wins Local 44 presidency – again
After his surprise victory was challenged and thrown out, McNair tried unsuccessfully in court to halt the second election. Today he beat AFSCME officials’ favored candidate, Trevor Taylor.
Above: Stancil McNair poses with Teresa Blow after he won the presidency of Local 44 and she was elected to the executive board. (Fern Shen)
Baltimore sanitation worker Stancil McNair, whose union leadership victory in an August election was challenged and thrown out, won again today – defeating the same opponent as before, outgoing vice president Trevor Taylor.
“I beat him by an even bigger margin this time,” McNair said, pumping his fist and hugging supporters in the parking lot of the AFSCME union hall on Bush Street where the election was held.
McNair won the Local 44 presidency by a margin of 149-121. In the first election, McNair prevailed over Taylor 125-103.
The victory was a sweet one for McNair, a vocal critic of union leadership whose surprise win four months ago was met with hostility by AFSCME Maryland Council 3 leaders and a challenge by their favored candidate, Taylor.
Saddled with a gag order despite being sworn in as union president on August 30 and given limited access to the union hall, McNair was reportedly shut out of Local 44 decisionmaking since then.
Taylor, meanwhile, worked at the union hall and was close to city officials, posing with Mayor Brandon Scott 12 days before the election at a press event celebrating the recently finalized contract that boosts pay for sanitation workers by nearly 19% over three years.
Asked what his next step will be after being re-sworn-in as president, McNair said he will meet with his team to establish priorities and will clarify his responsibilities and rights with the union brass.
“We’re gonna need to start doing some planning,” he said. “We have been doing some things and helping some people, but not at our full capacity because we weren’t allowed to. Everything’s been up in the air.”
The prospect of reinvigorating Local 44 animated another winner today, Teresa Blow, who ran on McNair’s ticket and was the top vote-getter for the executive board.
“Once we get seated in, we’d like to get our own building to work out of,” she said casting a skeptical eye at the Bush Street hall. “It’s not a friendly place. We would never get treated fair. They would never respect our position.”
The scene outside the union hall today. AFSCME members were required to personally come to the hall to cast their vote. (Fern Shen)
Run-Off for VP
Establishing his authority is one of many issues McNair will face, including the fact that not all of his slate members prevailed today.
While his candidate for treasurer, Timeeka Pettus, won, the candidate for vice president, Ricardo Ward, lost.
Ward came in third, trailing behind Taylor ally Arthur King and independent candidate Clarence Thomas, who effectively split the vote.
Because neither King nor Thomas captured over 50% of the vote, there will be a run-off election, union members told The Brew, as night was falling and election participants headed home.
During an overcast day of snow showers and cold rain, union members streamed into the building, some pulling up in trash trucks, and said why they came.
“Because our voices need to be heard on a number of things. But especially safety,” said Keisha Walker, who has held various positions, including laborer and driver, during her 16 years with the city.
Another member who showed up to vote echoed Walker’s call for new leadership.
“I came out because we need change. We’ve been underpaid for so long. So many things have been ignored for so long,” said Brian Davis, who has been with Solid Waste for five years.
Having worked on trucks collecting trash and recycling like so many Local 44 members, “Stancil McNair knows what its like being back there. He knows what we deserve,” Davis said.