UMaine System, graduate student workers' union ratify collective bargaining agreement

University of Maine campus shot showing building and a flag

File photo / University of Maine The University of Maine System has its flagship campus in Orono, shown here.

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The University of Maine System has ratified its first collective bargaining agreement with part-time graduate student workers.

The three-year contract between the system and the University of Maine Graduate Workers Union UAW was ratified by a vote of 438-3.

“This agreement achieves the right balance — recognizing that graduate student workers deserve fair compensation and working conditions that reflect their essential role in our education and research mission, while also upholding our responsibility to keep Maine’s public universities affordable for students and taxpayers," Dannel Malloy, system chancellor, and Joan Ferrini-Mundy, vice chancellor for research and innovation and University of Maine president, said in a joint statement.

Provisions under the new contract include:

An immediate one-time $750 bonus for the approximately 900 part-time graduate student workers represented by the union.
Stipend increases. The nine-month stipend for represented UMaine masters students who work 20 hours per week will increase from $17,000 to $21,000 effective July 1, 2026, and for doctoral students from $20,000 to $23,500. The minimum stipends at other UMS universities will increase by $3,000 for masters and $5,000 for doctoral union members.
Guaranteed annual stipend increases. Minimum stipends for part-time graduate student workers will increase by 3% in the second year of the contract and 3.5% in the third year.
University-funded health insurance. UMaine will pay 65% of premium costs for those enrolled in the graduate student worker health insurance plan in the first two years of the contract, increasing that contribution to 85% in the third year. The flagship will also contribute 50% toward the premium for one dependent of each covered graduate student worker.
University-funded dental insurance. UMaine will pay 50% of the premium cost for those enrolled in the graduate student workers’ dental insurance plan.
Nine credit hours of free tuition per semester for most part-time graduate student workers, valued at $10,314 annually, based on current rates.

The system board of trustees is expected to give final approval to the contract at a Jan. 26, 2026, meeting. Pay and benefit provisions will begin July 1, the start of the system’s next fiscal year.

More than 90% of the union’s members are research and teaching assistants at UMaine, which is the only institution in the state to have achieved R1 Carnegie Classification for research performance and productivity.

In 2023, UMS voluntarily recognized the UAW to represent part-time graduate student workers across Maine’s public universities, and the system has six other bargaining units.

Maine AFL-CIO is a federation of over 200 unions representing 42,000 workers and retirees in Maine.