What do we know about labor strikes? We know that their effectiveness comes from their disruption. From a Chipotle strike forcing you to change your dinner plans, to a teachers union strike where parents have to scramble for childcare, strikes work by inconveniencing people and displaying a reliance on labor.
Not every employee can strike. Not even every unionized employee can strike. In Maine, public employees aren’t allowed to strike. This includes all employees here at the University of Maine.
From printing services to your professors, UMaine has a high rate of unionized employees. However, these employees are stripped of their union power since they lack the right to strike, which slows down the bargaining process for unions and holds them back from contractional wins. Public sector employees who have the ability to strike earn up to 5 percent more than those without the ability to strike (EPI).
Strikes at universities work. We have examples from universities across the country that showcase their effectiveness. Boston University graduate workers are currently on strike, hoping to cause that necessary disruption to the normal flow of the start of the semester. Cornell University workers just ended a strike that led to a 25 percent increase in wages for some members. A competitive contract for our employees not only makes the university a more sought-after place to work, but when union members’ wages increase, wages across the entire sector increase. In Maine, a wage increase for our service employees could influence private, non-unionized companies to raise the wages for their employees. A strong employee contract is great for the state of Maine.
In 2019, Rep. Michael Sylvester (D-Portland) introduced a bill, LD900, that would have allowed some public sector employees to strike. Specifically, it would have allowed UMaine System employees to go on strike. The bill did not pass. Critics of the bill were concerned about potential mass disruption of state services. Mass disruption is the purpose of strikes.
Since then, our own graduate student workers successfully formed a union and are currently in the process of bargaining their first contract. While a union’s strength comes from its solidarity and not its ability to strike, our graduate workers lose great leverage compared to graduate workers’ unions at private universities, or universities where workers can go on strike.
This university works because they work. We should keep the energy of the recent union wins on campus and take it to our elected officials. Our legislators must legalize public sector right to strike in Maine. We cannot use the excuse that essential workers cannot go on strike. We learned from the pandemic that every worker can be considered essential. Even if we don’t legalize complete public sector right to strike, it’s time that university employees reap all the benefits of hard-fought unionization.
Reach out to your legislators before the next session. Demand that the workers that make this university function everyday have all the tools they need to bargain.
