Senate hears debate over collective bargaining for graduate assistants; university system urges continued meet-and-confer

Senate Bill 166, introduced by Senator Ben Kramer, would allow graduate assistants at public universities in Maryland to avail themselves of collective‑bargaining rights.

Supporters told the Senate Finance Committee that graduate assistants perform essential labor in teaching, research and mentorship and should be able to bargain collectively for pay, benefits and working conditions. Alex Foley of the United Auto Workers told the committee that graduate academic workers at universities nationwide have used collective bargaining to secure higher pay, protections against harassment, better health coverage and other workplace protections.

Graduate students and student leaders who testified described inconsistent appointment letters, irregular pay timing and heavy workloads—one witness said he had graded as many as 80 lab reports in a single week and cited lapses in health‑insurance administration as a concrete problem collective bargaining could address.

University leaders including University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay Perman, Morgan State University President David Wilson, University of Maryland Eastern Shore Provost Ronell Allen, and Stephen Roth, dean of the graduate school at College Park, urged an unfavorable report. They argued the mentor‑mentee educational relationship could be harmed by collective bargaining and emphasized that existing campus grievance and meet‑and‑confer processes could be strengthened instead. Chancellor Perman said elected student representatives already meet with leadership and that the system would institute more uniform meet‑and‑confer processes across campuses.

AFL‑CIO and SEIU witnesses strongly supported the bill, saying collective bargaining has improved conditions where implemented and noting that most Big Ten peer institutions already permit some form of graduate worker collective bargaining.

Questions during the hearing focused on how meet‑and‑confer functions now, the scope of appointment letters and stipends, the fiscal implications of bargaining (including impacts on grant‑funded positions), and whether unionization could reduce graduate assistant opportunities by increasing program costs.

The committee did not take an immediate vote; senators signaled the issue is politically and financially complex and that additional hearings and budgetary analysis may follow.