Union members from across the state joined graduate student workers at the University of Maine in Orono today, to call for fair contract negotiations.
The graduate workers union has been in negotiations for its first contract for more than 630 days, and said the current pay and benefits are far behind what are offered at UMaine's peer universities.
Members of other Maine unions joined in solidarity, and said graduate workers are a key part of many industries' success in the state.
Eric McLean is a member of United Steel Workers, and works at Nine Dragons paper mill in Rumford.
"Our workforce benefits from their research," he said. "They instruct classes, educate the future employees of Maine pulp and paper mills. These graduate workers deserve a living wage, good benefits and safe working conditions."
Kaia De Vries is a teaching assistant in the math department, and said she is paid the minimum master's student stipend of $17,000 over nine months. She said after unexpected housing and car expenses, she had to get a second job — leaving her with far less time for her teaching and her own classwork.
"It was disheartening for me to know that I wasn't able to give 100% to my students and focus on my teaching," she said. "We are demanding that the university and the UMaine system give us the wages we need to support ourselves, the health care we need to take care of ourselves, and the benefits and protections that are standard across unions and for other graduate workers."
Samantha Warren, spokesperson for the University of Maine System, said the contributions of graduate student workers are valued, and the system continues to bargain in good faith.
But Warren said the system's budget depends on state appropriations and federal grants and contracts, many of which have been impacted in recent months.
