USM Bargaining Updates

We’ve reached a tentative agreement with the University System of Maryland! For the first time in history, we have a unified contract for the entire system, raising the bar for workers at all of the campuses across the university system. The strength of our union comes directly from our membership. Every person who joins our…

In the last few months, our AFSCME Maryland bargaining team has gone back and forth with the University System of Maryland (USM) to secure our first unified contract, covering AFSCME-represented employees at institutions across the system.  While this process hasn’t been easy, we’re excited to share that we’ve reached tentative agreements on over 100 different contract…

On Thursday, February 22, the AFSCME Maryland Bargaining Team met with the University System of Maryland at UMBC for another bargaining session.  During this session, we reached agreement on the following topics:  Here are just a few of the priorities that remain outstanding:  Our next bargaining session will be Monday, March 4 at the AFSCME…

On Wednesday, February 7, the AFSCME Maryland Bargaining Team met with the University System of Maryland for another bargaining session at the AFSCME Maryland Bush Street office in Baltimore. It was another long bargaining session that lasted well after midnight. We were able to make significant progress on a number of issues, including the following:…

In January, the AFSCME Maryland bargaining team met with the University System of Maryland (USM) on Friday, January 19 and Thursday, January 25. In addition to the tentative agreements reached so far, the AFSCME Maryland team sent the following counters to the USM’s proposals:    Below are the outstanding issues that remain:  Our next bargaining session…

Last week, we had two bargaining sessions with the University System of Maryland (USM), one on Zoom on Thursday, December 7 and one in-person on Friday, December 8. After a marathon negotiations session on Friday that lasted until after midnight, we’re proud to say we’ve made significant progress in our negotiations! Some of the areas…

Since our last bargaining update, we have had the following bargaining sessions with the University System of Maryland (USM): November 20 and 21 at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) campus, November 28 at the AFSCME Maryland offices in Baltimore, and December 1 at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute in College Park. The…

So far, in November, we have had two bargaining sessions with the USM (University System of Maryland): one on Wednesday, November 8 and another on Tuesday, November 14. Both sessions took place in Baltimore in the AFSCME Maryland offices.  As always, the AFSCME USM Bargaining Team is composed of AFSCME members who work at college…

At the previous September 29 bargaining session, the University System of Maryland (USM) shared their financial figures and pledged that they intended to finally counter all of AFSCME’s proposals.  In the October 17 session however, the USM failed to meet their own pledge and follow up with their own promises. By our count, the USM team has…

Last Friday, September 29, we held another bargaining session with the University System of Maryland (USM) at our AFSCME Maryland Union Hall in Baltimore.  Early on in this process, our AFSCME bargaining team provided multiple comprehensive proposals, covering a range of issues, including pay, leave, the use of contractual employees, and more. But in this…

Since our last bargaining update, we have had two in-person bargaining sessions with the University System of Maryland (USM), one at the AFSCME Maryland office in Baltimore on Wednesday, August 30 and one at Coppin State University on Wednesday, September 13.     August 30 Bargaining Session  At the August 30th session, we had a surprise visit…

In June and July, we had two in-person bargaining sessions with the University System of Maryland (USM), one at the AFSCME Maryland office in Baltimore on Wednesday, June 28 and another at Frostburg State University on Thursday, July 27.  In both bargaining sessions, our AFSCME Maryland Higher Education Bargaining Team, made up of AFSCME members…

If you are not currently an AFSCME member, you can become one here. As an AFSCME member, you get to help us decide future bargaining priorities and vote on future agreements. On Wednesday, May 17, AFSCME met with the University System of Maryland (USM) for an in-person bargaining session at the University of Maryland Baltimore.  The…

Earlier this month, Senator Ben Kramer and Delegate Jared Solomon sent a letter to USM Chancellor Jay Perman reiterating their support of USM workers and reminding the USM of the intent of SB9. You can read the letter that Senator Kramer and Delegate Solomon sent here.  Senator Kramer and Delegate Solomon were both sponsors of…

On Wednesday, April 26, AFSCME met with the University System of Maryland (USM) at our Bush Street office in Baltimore. At this bargaining session, we proposed language about fair and equitable drug and alcohol policies and employees’ right to privacy and without surveillance. We countered management proposals regarding management’s rights, probationary periods, and the duration…

On Wednesday, March 29, the AFSCME higher education bargaining team had an in-person bargaining session with the USM at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).  During this session, the AFSCME team made proposals regarding the following topics:  The USM management team did not have any new proposals for us but did send a few…

On Wednesday, March 15, the AFSCME higher education bargaining team met virtually with the University System of Maryland.  The AFSCME bargaining team and the USM continued to make counter proposals on issues related to leave for jury duty, disaster leave, and accident leave. We were able to get tentative agreements on how union dues are…

If you are not currently an AFSCME member, you can become one here. As an AFSCME member, you get to help us decide future bargaining priorities and vote on future agreements. On Wednesday, March 1, we had another full bargaining session with the University System of Maryland (USM) at Bowie State University. Our AFSCME higher education…

If you are not currently an AFSCME member, you can become one here. As an AFSCME member, you get to help us decide future bargaining priorities and vote on future agreements. On Wednesday, February 1, we had a full bargaining session with the University System of Maryland (USM) at the AFSCME Maryland offices in Baltimore.…

On Wednesday, December 7, we had our 3rd full bargaining session with the University System of Maryland (USM) and met virtually. Since late August, we have met with the USM four times, including the December 7 meeting. Over the course of these sessions, we have accomplished the following: We have a lot of remaining things…