On Sept. 29, 2023, when the UMaine Graduate Workers Union was certified by the Maine Labor Relations Board, it was the culmination of a year and a half of vigorous organizing by hundreds of workers. The supermajority of graduate student workers who signed union authorization cards did so because we believe that we deserve safe, secure and dignified jobs as we work to support Maine’s largest educational undertaking.

University of Maine System (UMS) graduate workers come from all backgrounds. Among us are parents, new graduates, experienced professionals, lifelong Mainers and new arrivals in this country. What unites us is our work to sustain public education in Maine. We teach and mentor undergraduates, and we are often the only instructors with whom a student has routine personal interaction. We conduct first-class research that contributes significantly to UMaine-Orono’s R1 designation, and we perform critical administrative work that keeps UMS running. We love our work and are deeply committed to UMS. We unionized because UMS needs to commit to us in the same way – by making our jobs safe and sustainable as we perform the fundamental work of higher education.

After our union was certified, we surveyed our co-workers to democratically define goals for our first contract. Our goals range from improving health care to match the standard of peer institutions to creating a more family-friendly workplace, which were ratified by a margin of 512-1. When we entered bargaining, we expected tough negotiations and hard compromises, but we also expected UMS to bargain with us in good faith as required by law. Sadly, they have not done so.

In bargaining, either side can submit proposals for articles to be included in the contract. When both sides agree on a proposal, it’s considered a “tentative agreement,” and bargaining on that topic concludes. When all proposals are resolved, the entire contract is submitted for final ratification by the union and the employer. This process allows measurable, concrete progress to be made.

After five months of bargaining, UMS rescinded its lead negotiator’s authority to sign tentative agreements and told us Chancellor Dannel Malloy would be the sole signer. Since then, we’ve learned that a separate committee of senior administrators is making the decisions. Neither Chancellor Malloy nor this other committee have met us at the bargaining table.

The official UMS bargaining team is routinely unable to explain the rationale behind its own proposals and has backtracked on several of them, all while dragging its feet on providing us with critically needed information to inform our proposals. UMS delayed responding for months to much of our initial request for basic information that they are legally obligated to provide – a delay for which we filed a prohibited practice charge with the Maine Labor Relations Board.

UMS’ conduct is bad faith, regressive bargaining. Tentative agreements have been left in limbo for months waiting for Chancellor Malloy’s signature while we negotiate with his uninformed messengers. These circumstances violate the ground rules that both parties agreed to 10 months ago. We’re left to ask: UMS, where is your actual bargaining committee?

Chancellor Malloy’s refusal to come to the bargaining table reflects a lack of respect for his employees. While Malloy’s annual bonus is nearly double his lowest-paid graduate worker’s annual stipend, he rarely appears on UMaine-Orono’s campus. We are left to wonder how much Chancellor Malloy values public higher education in Maine. Graduate workers deserve the same commitment from UMS that we demonstrate daily for this community and institution. Our union will continue to fight for a strong first contract that works for graduate workers and UMS. All we ask is that we be met at the table by the people who can actually agree to one.