PHOTO: MSEA-SEIU Penobscot Chapter members in September.
With the state of Maine forecasting an additional $265 million in revenues over the next two years, the Mills administration is in a position to take action to close the pay gap for state employees (MSEA-SEIU 1989) so it can recruit and retain staff to fix critical staffing shortages. Maine Service Employees Association is currently in mediation with the Mills administration, but unfortunately Governor Janet Mills has not authorized her bargaining team to move on wages, according to MSEA.
"As workers, who have been working under expired contracts for five months, we are demanding the administration of Governor Janet Mills present in contract negotiations a credible plan to address understaffing and close the well-documented state employee pay gap," the union wrote in a statement. "Over this week and next, we plan to continue to work hard to get agreements, to make progress and will make every effort to push for a contract to bring to the membership for a vote before the year’s end. We are calling on the administration to do the same and for the governor to send her team to the table with the ability to truly address wages and a plan to close the pay gap."