The union representing state workers has filed a complaint with the Maine Labor Relations Board calling on the Mills administration to complete a study analyzing the compensation and classification of state employees.
A report from four years ago found that state employees were underpaid by 15%, compared to their counterparts in the private sector. In a complaint filed this week, MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 argues that the state has dragged its feet for years in completing and implementing a comprehensive study on employees' compensation and classification. The union said that a provision in last year's budget mandates that the Department of Administrative and Financial Services complete a market pay study, including updated salary data.
"And the state just refused to do it," said Tom Feeley, the union's general counsel. "And they've introduced a report a couple of weeks ago, that basically recommended that at some point in the future, they're going to undertake this review, again. It's really just kicking the can down the road."
A recent collective bargaining agreement also included requirements for the study, and the union argues in its complaint that the state "has engaged in bad faith bargaining."
"The state can't cross its fingers behind its back when it's agreeing to promises at the bargaining table," Feeley said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services said that the complaint "rests on faulty legal claims and factual inaccuracies." Spokesperson Sharon Huntley said that the department "submitted their report to legislators and bargaining agents on Jan. 31, 2024," and said that the market pay study report is due on Sept. 30, 2024.
"DAFS intends to submit information responsive to this requirement by that date," Huntley said.
Huntley added that the complaint "does not recognize the significant progress made in the compensation of State of Maine employees," including base wage increases of more than 24% in less than five years.
"The Mills Administration is committed to ongoing improvement in compensation and benefits for our valued State of Maine workforce, while being mindful of our fiscal responsibility," Huntley said. "Repeated, factually inaccurate claims do nothing to advance that goal but instead, only serve to hamper our progress."
