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UMaine Graduate Workers Union push for contract a year into negotiations

Graduate student workers at the University of Maine unionized in September 2023, aiming to secure improved working conditions, pay, and protections.

ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine System (UMS) and UMaine Graduate Workers Union are still negotiating a contract a year after bargaining began.

Graduate student workers at the University of Maine unionized in September 2023, aiming to secure improved working conditions, pay, and protections.

The union and UMS have reached several tentative agreements on topics like workload, training, and discipline policies. But the union’s bargaining committee members said progress has been slow.

“It’s been a pretty frustrating process,” said Nikhil Brocchini, a graduate student at UMaine who serves on the bargaining committee.

Brocchini said UMS has yet to agree on proposals that address international workers' rights, non-discrimination protections, and workplace safety.

Negotiations on wages and healthcare, two top concerns for the union, have not yet started.

In a statement, a spokesperson for UMS said the university, “greatly values our employees, including graduate student workers…our system continues to bargain in good faith.”

“We hope that the change we’ve seen from them is genuine and that we can work together productively,” Brocchini said. He added that financial insecurity and safety concerns were some of the issues that drove graduate workers to unionize.

As a research assistant, Brocchini makes under $1,800 a month, which he said is a challenge.

“I’m still living very much hand-to-mouth with what we make, especially with the cost of housing and the cost of living in this area going up,” he said. But Brocchini and other graduate workers are hopeful that a contract could improve health care and wages for workers.

“To live secure and dignified lives and feel safe at work, so they can focus on doing a great job at the jobs we’re passionate about,” Brocchini said.

Alexis Merk, a graduate student at UMaine, said UMaine is a great research institution, and securing more rights for grad workers will help attract more students.

“I love my job, but I want it to be more sustainable, and so I think for that to happen we need better wages,” Merk said.

Merk added that she feels positive about the negotiations and the potential for a better workplace for future students. “It’s my dream that anyone can have access to graduate school,” she said.

The union and university will continue bargaining once a week for the next few weeks.

Grad workers are hoping to have a contract by the end of the year. UMS also said it’s “optimistic” that a first contract can be finalized soon.

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