Maryland public defenders vote to join largest state worker union

Maryland’s public defenders on Tuesday voted to join the largest union for state government employees, more than two years after launching a unionization push. The state’s Office of the Public Defender employs some 600 lawyers, paralegals, social workers and administrative assistants, with outposts in every Maryland county and Baltimore, to represent marginalized people accused of crimes. Tuesday’s landslide vote means the office’s attorneys and support staff will be represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and immediately reap the protections of AFSCME’s contract with the Maryland.