ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine System’s graduate workers rallied at UMaine’s Orono campus Thursday demanding that the administration reaches a contract agreement.
Workers said they have been bargaining for their first union contract for nearly 18 months.
“Waiting 500 days to reach a contract agreement is not only unacceptable but disgraceful,” said Tommy Pinette, a UMaine graduate worker working on language revitalization and historical research. “And it shows that that UMS team does not value our labor or our livelihoods as the workers who make the UMS System run.”
The workers are asking the university to address what they say are ongoing issues with low and inconsistent pay, substandard health benefits and protections for international workers.
“I have to worry about getting food on the table. I have to worry about whether I can go into my office and write or go stand in a food pantry line,” Pinette said. “I have to worry about fixing my car or paying my rent. I’m in a constant state of precocity as a graduate student, and I can speak for the majority of students saying that we need a change now, we need a fair contract now.”
The standard minimum stipend for current master’s students working 20 hours per week is $17,000 for a nine-month appointment. Additionally, according to the UMaine webpage for graduate benefits, graduate assistantships and fellowships may cover “up to half of the health insurance costs for the GA/TA/RA/Fellow plan.”
The webpage also states that tuition waivers may be included in some awards for graduates, “depending on the source of funding and the guidelines of that funding source.” More information on benefits can be found on the UMaine website.
“Graduate workers at this point earn $17,000 a year, and this is not a living wage with the rise of costs of living,” Pinette said. “This means that a lot of us live hand to mouth.”
Pinette said an important part of their rally was asking for protections for international students.
“International graduate workers are a huge part of this university, they contribute to research, teaching and they’re a vital part of this institution,” Pinette said. “Yet the UMS team refuses to give protections for international grad worker programming and reserves.”
Pinette said the contract would improve conditions for workers.
“It would guarantee a standard wage and standard working conditions for all workers across the UMS system,” Pinette said. “We want a contract immediately. We need a contract now more than ever.”
Pinette also said graduate workers are a valuable asset to the university.
“The UMS System runs on graduate system labor,” Pinette said. “We do everything from teaching, to research, to publishing scholarships to the actual functioning of the university as a place of higher learning. Without graduate workers, the University of Maine System would not function as it does today.”
Former Senate President Troy Jackson made an appearance at the rally and said the workers deserve a fair wage.
“The university is a beacon for the state of Maine,” Jackson said. “All these students have worked real, real hard to make it the beacon that it is and people getting a fair wage to be able to live and stay here in Maine is really important to me.”
Jackson also said contract negotiations have been an issue for some time.
“I was involved when I was the senate president. I’m not anymore and we still haven’t got this settled,” Jackson said. “I mean, people need to be paid a fair wage and that’s all they’re asking for.”
In a statement, a UMS representative said the institution’s ability to improve work opportunities and conditions largely depends on state funds — which were recently held flat by the Legislature — and federal grants and contracts, millions of dollars of which have been paused or cut in recent months.
“As a public university system, our ability to improve work opportunities and conditions including for graduate students, without shifting costs to other students and their families in the form of unreasonable tuition increases largely depends on our state appropriation,” a statement from a UMaine System representative reads in part. “Which was recently held flat by the Legislature for the coming biennium (FY26 and FY27), and our federal grants and contracts, millions of dollars of which have been paused or even terminated in the past three months.”
UMS also said it values its graduate workers and will continue to bargain in good faith.
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