Legislators & Graduate Workers (UAW) Hold Public Forum on Affordability in Maine

On December 9th, the University of Maine Graduate Workers Union-UAW hosted a public forum and discussion on the crisis of affordability faced by Mainers and in particular how this has affected workers within the University of Maine System (UMS). A panel of graduate student workers were joined by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) and Rep. Ambureen Rana (D-Bangor). University leadership, including UMS Chancellor Dannel Malloy, UMS Vice Chancellor and UMaine President Joan Ferrini Mundy, University of Southern Maine President Jaqueline Edmondson, and UMS Board of Trustees Chair Trish Riley were invited to participate in the panel, but declined to attend.

The panel answered questions posed by moderators as well as from members of the audience that filled the auditorium. Topics spanned worker wages, housing instability, healthcare challenges, obstacles faced by international workers, and more. Legislators weighed in on the current state of these issues across Maine and how, despite being a public institution with significant taxpayer resources, the University of Maine System does not provide working conditions that can sustain the research and teaching that the UMS mission calls for.

Andrea Tirrell, PhD student and graduate worker in Ecology and Environmental Sciences summed up the economic conditions of UMS graduate workers: “Graduate worker pay starts at less than $1,900 per month…and after things like healthcare, rent, food, heat, all of our expenses, many of us hit zero in our accounts every month.”  

Miranda Seixas, Master’s student and graduate worker in the Climate Change Institute, spoke about her decision to not pursue a PhD at UMaine because of the financial constraints.

“I started [at UMaine] in a Master’s program with the thought that this could be a place where a PhD would be part of my future.” She added that it “has felt like this is no longer a place to continue on doing research…I need to think about my own future and my own financial stability. And there are universities elsewhere, outside of Maine, that will pay me more. That’s really hard for me to say because I love Maine and I really want to invest in this community and the economy here. But if the university is not supporting students like me, we’re going to be leaving the university and most likely the state, which takes a lot away from the Maine community.”

Charlotte Begouen Demeaux, PhD student in Marine Sciences, discussed how international workers face an even more challenging set of circumstances due to work restrictions from their visa status.

“You are not allowed to work anywhere outside the university. Which means that if you are on a $17,000 per year appointment, that is all you’re going to get. You are also taxed more through deductions, and you are not eligible for MaineCare or EBT. ”

Senator Tipping contrasted the economic conditions for graduate workers with those of UMS administration, which includes three of the four highest paid public employees in the state (the fourth also works for UMaine). He shared that, in addition to UMaine Men’s Hockey coach Ben Barr, UMS Chancellor Malloy, UMS Vice Chancellor and UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, and UMS Vice Chancellor Ryan Low “all make between $400,000 and half a million dollars…and they’ve seen big increases in the last few years,” and “These are base salaries, this doesn’t count the free house on campus and things like that,” referring to the housing benefits and more that Chancellor Malloy, President Ferrini-Mundy, and others receive.

Representative Roeder shared her past experience as a teaching assistant at the University of Georgia, where applying for EBT benefits was part of her work orientation. She went on to say “I thought that when I came to the University of Maine and began teaching as an adjunct that it was better. But it is not.”

Representative Rana was asked by a graduate worker if UMS had lobbied the state for more funding for graduate workers. She responded “They ask for more money, but not for you.”

The panelists discussed the need to direct more of the funds allocated by the state into supporting workers, including graduate workers. Senator Tipping commented “It’s all about getting more money for higher education and making sure it goes to the right places.”

The University of Maine Graduate Workers Union - UAW continues to negotiate with the University of Maine System for a first collective bargaining agreement. Contract negotiations began on November 14, 2023, after the union was certified by the Maine Labor Relations Board in September, 2023.