Collective bargaining. A proposal working its way through the Maryland General Assembly would grant collective bargaining rights to graduate assistants across the University System of Maryland.
The legislation, sponsored by Del. Linda Foley (District 15, Montgomery County), comes about 20 years after a Maryland law excluded instructors at publicly funded colleges and universities from unionizing.
If the legislation passes, graduate assistants—including those at the University of Maryland (UMD)—will be able to unionize to negotiate wages, employee benefits and working conditions.
According to Henry Hausmann, an organizer with the Graduate Labor Union, about 2,600—more than half of the university’s 4,200 graduate assistants—have signed a union card.
If the bill is passed, graduate workers at UMD could start the union authorization process the day the legislation goes into effect, Hausmann said.—Sam Gauntt
