Maine state workers reach labor deal with Janet Mills after months of wrangling
As the legislative session wound down, Gov. Janet Mills spoke in the House chamber on April 29 at the Maine State House in Augusta. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)
The largest union representing state employees reached an agreement with the Mills administration after months of contentious negotiations and accusations of bad-faith bargaining.
The Maine Service Employees Association, Local 1989, announced the tentative agreement to its roughly 9,000 members last week. It includes a 4.5% raise in each of the next two years and $2,000 lump sum payment to each member, among other things.
The Mills administration confirmed the details of the agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the union.
The contract marks the end of months of acrimonious negotiations between Mills and the union.
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The more than 9,000 workers in administrative services, maintenance and support services, professional-technical services and supervisory services have been working without a contract since last June. Covered workers include office assistants, civil engineers, mechanics, state parks workers and health and psychiatric staff at state facilities.
The union has been pushing for higher wages to address staffing shortages within state government, while the Mills administration has noted that it has increased pay by at least 29% throughout her two terms in office.
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Tensions between the two sides resulted in eight labor complaints being filed against the administration during Mills’ tenure. Each side has accused the other of negotiating in bad faith.
The most recent complaint was filed in June with the Maine Labor Relations Board after the administration proposed 2% annual pay raises in each year of the two-year contract, plus a $1,250 signing bonus.
That proposal fell short of the union’s demands for 5% increases in each year. An independent fact-finding review recommended a 2.5% increase in the first year, a 3% increase in the second and the signing bonus.
The state’s latest offer came after it reported a $148 million surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
It’s unclear when union members will vote on the tentative agreement. A union spokesperson did not respond to a a request for comment.
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Tagged: Janet Mills
Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined. More by Randy Billings
