Union Wins $2,000 Payments for State Workers from Mills Administration

PHOTO: MSEA members deliver petition asking Gov. Mills to close the pay gap in Nov. 2023.

State workers with the Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU 1989) have reached a resolution with the Mills administration after filing a Prohibited Practice Complaint with the Maine Labor Relations Board alleging that the State violated labor law by failing to complete the Comprehensive Compensation and Classification Study required under contract and law. In a letter to members, MSEA SEIU 1989 President Mark Brunton wrote that while the state contested the union’s allegations and neither side admitted any wrongdoing, the administration has agreed to make a $2,000 lump-sum payment to all full-time State employees in October 2024 — with pro-rata payments for part-time, intermittent and seasonal employees — in order to resolve the matter.

For years, MSEA SEIU 1989 members have been calling on the state to update its compensation and classification system for state executive branch workers and boost their wages to compete with the private sector. Under the new agreement, the state also agreed to retain an outside consultant to conduct a classification study with the goals of modernizing the worker classification system, ensuring that positions are appropriately classified, and addressing inequities throughout state government. The consultant is charged with producing a report by the end of 2025, after which the parties shall bargain regarding the consultant’s findings and recommendations.

“While this resolution and the forthcoming classification study are important steps in addressing longstanding issues with our compensation and classification system, a lot more needs to be done,” wrote Brunton. "Over the next few months, we will be conducting our bargaining survey, building our bargaining team and getting ready to begin contract negotiations in just four months.”