State Employees Ratify New Contract After Old Contract Expired a Year Ago

Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU 1989) members have voted to ratify a new two-year contract with the Mills administration covering 9,000 state workers. The vote comes after protracted negotiations left workers in the State of Maine Executive Branch working for the past 14 months under contracts that had expired June 30, 2025. The tentative agreement provides for an across-the-board pay raise of 4.5 percent effective the pay week closest to Sept. 1, 2026, and a $2,000 lump-sum payment in the pay week closest to Oct. 4, 2026.

MSEA President Mark Brunton told the Maine Morning Star that the union will continue to push for a job classification study for state employees.

“Our members stood united in these negotiations. Together, we refused to accept earlier offers that management had billed as its ‘last, best and final’ offer,” Brunton said. “This ratified contract is progress, but our work continues. We’re taking the gains we won together and organizing for the fights ahead.”

The contract also includes a $2,000 childcare reimbursement, three additional days of military leave and an expansion of bereavement leave. The union has been at odds with the Mills administration for years over the Governor’s refusal to close the pay gap for state employees. The Maine Service Employees Association has filed eight prohibited practice complaints against the Mills Administration for failing to bargain in good faith since 2019.