In October, Laurel Department of Public Works employees voted to unionize and elected Municipal & County Government Employees Organization, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local No. 1994 as its collective bargaining representative. The election followed a 10-month campaign that city employees initiated in December 2022.

“The employees at DPW finally have what I believe to be a human right: the right to negotiate everything as it relates to their employment with Laurel City Government,” said Gino Renne, MCGEO UFCW Local 1994 president, in a statement.