Maryland’s graduate workers are finally on the verge of gaining the right to collectively bargain, but harmful amendments threaten to weaken the bill and leave thousands behind.

Senate Bill 84 (SB84) would grant collective bargaining rights to approximately 5,500 graduate workers at Maryland’s public universities. These workers are essential to teaching, research, and the daily functioning of their campuses. They deserve the same basic labor protections as other public employees.

However, proposed amendments would undermine the bill by:

• Excluding grant-funded graduate assistants, even though many graduate workers move between grant-funded and state-funded roles, creating an artificial and unfair divide.

• Delaying implementation until 2028, pushing meaningful protections years into the future.

• Leaving out graduate workers at 12 of 14 public universities, including all of Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, denying hundreds of workers equal rights.

These changes would weaken SB84 and deny fair treatment to thousands of workers.

We need a clean bill: no exclusions, no delays.