Higher education workers from across the University of Maryland System as well as St. Mary’s College and Morgan State University rallied today calling on the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation enabling collective bargaining for full time faculty and graduate workers at public institutions across the state. Collective bargaining would improve wages, create certainty around courseload, define work schedule and responsibilities and bring much needed educator voice to shaping the direction of Maryland’s four-year institutions. Joining activists to make that case were state elected leaders such as Del. Linda Foley (D-15), as well as Sen. Ben Kramer (D-19), Sen. Clarence Lam (D-12), and Sen. Sarah Elfreth (D-30).
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“Professors and graduate workers are vital contributors to the excellent academic work done at our state's public colleges and universities. They deserve a democratic voice in determining their work. Collective bargaining is a right enjoyed by K-12 public education professionals and full-time community college faculty. Now is the time to extend that right to higher education professionals and all Maryland public employees,” said AFT Maryland President Kenya Campbell
“We are coming together to demonstrate our strong support for legislation that would enshrine collective bargaining rights for thousands of workers in the state of Maryland. All across the country, hundreds of thousands of graduate workers already enjoy this right, which has enabled them to improve their working conditions and lives. It is time for this to be the law in Maryland" said Ali Harding, Graduate Assistant in Information Studies and Graduate Labor Union member, the graduate campaign organizing with UAW.
“Collective bargaining is necessary for full time faculty to protect the academic freedoms necessary to educate our students. Collective bargaining will create a legally binding shared governance where faculty and graduate workers can contribute to decisions about our work and sit at the table with creative ideas on how to make our top-flight public institutions the best in the world," said University of Maryland College Park AAUP President Karin Rosemblatt.
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