A supermajority of graduate workers at UMD College Park have signed authorization cards to join UMD Graduate Labor Union - UAW, action by the Maryland General Assembly is now required. Graduate workers have introduced bills to grant graduate workers in the University System of Maryland collective bargaining rights in the Maryland General Assembly almost every year for nearly 20 years. A bill to expand this fundamental right has passed in the House in the 2025 session (HB 211). A corresponding bill was introduced by Sen. Kramer in the Senate (SB 166), but it did not make it out of committee. Graduate workers demanded recognition for their union from UMD in November 2024, and have maintained majority support for unionizing, but the lack of legislation enables UMD to ignore the democratic will of graduate workers to engage in collective bargaining.

Graduate workers do the vital work which makes UMD a top public university. Graduate teaching assistants are indispensable to instruction of the more than 30,000 undergraduate students at UMD, providing an important engine of economic opportunity and upward mobility for Maryland families. Graduate research assistants drive innovation in a wide range of fields, including biomedical research, engineering, cybersecurity, and more fields which power the Maryland economy. Graduate workers are essential to bringing in $748 million/year in research funding and making the $3.7 billion impact of UMD on the state economy possible.

Graduate workers struggle with challenging working conditions and lack enforceable rights. Graduate workers experience housing instability due to low pay, rampant harassment and discrimination, and other issues which hinder their ability to do their work. Current university controlled mechanisms, such as “meet and confer”, have not been adequate to address these issues and are not a substitute for collective bargaining.

Collective bargaining rights and graduate unions are common at UMD peer institutions. The national labor relations board ruled in 2016 that graduate assistants at private universities have collective bargaining rights. Many states around the country also grant them to graduate workers at public universities, including most states which have significant biomedical and tech economies. Many existing graduate unions at top research institutions have existed for years, and have been partners in promoting research and teaching excellence. UAW academic workers, including at the NIH and JHU in Maryland, have been leaders in the national fight against the damaging cuts to research funding. Of the 10 institutions listed as UMD peer institutions, 8 have collective bargaining rights for their graduate workers (UC Berkeley, UCLA, UIUC, Univ. of Michigan Ann Arbor, Rutgers, Penn State, University of Washington, University of Minnesota).