By Casey Glickman 

One month after more than 1,000 graduate students rallied across campus for union rights, the movement continues with energy and unity as students advocate for collective bargaining rights.

The Feb. 26 picketing event brought together graduate student workers from various departments at the University of Maryland as they demanded that the university recognize their union. With collective bargaining rights, students hope to have a more significant say in their contracts to advocate for changes to stipends, working hours and healthcare benefits.

“It was really energizing for us and helped us see that we do have a collective power,” said Declan Langton, a second-year doctoral student at the University of Maryland, while reflecting. 

Maryland law does not require public universities to recognize collective bargaining. Since 2017, legislation granting graduate student workers the right to unionize has been introduced annually in the Maryland General Assembly but has never passed.

“This kind of unionizing effort has been going on for a decade at least, and so it’s like a marathon. Year after year, students continue this effort,” said a member of UMD’s Graduate Labor Union, who requested anonymity.

Even for graduate students who have only been a part of this effort for a few short years, there is an overwhelming passion and drive to get union recognition. 

“It would not just be a victory for the people who are currently working on GLU, but for the generations of grad students who’ve been at this for multiple decades,” Langton said.

For 12 months of work, graduate student assistants receive a minimum stipend of $35,074, and graduate student fellows receive a minimum stipend of $25,000, according to the UMD Graduate School.

Students have expressed discontent with these stipends, given the living costs in College Park and the time they dedicate to teaching classes at the university.

“I know students personally in my program, and outside my program, who struggle with food insecurity, with being able to … pay for rent,” said Mikol Bailey, the Vice President for Financial Affairs and Student Fee Matters for the Graduate Student Government this term. 

Outside of these monetary amounts, students like Langton have struggled to receive their stipends on time. Langton, a graduate student fellow, received four payments following the end of each semester — three of which arrived late.

“It’s incredibly stressful, and it’s also really disheartening to do so much work for the university … and then to not be compensated on time and told to just brush it off,” Langton said.

With union rights, graduate students could meet the university at the bargaining table to negotiate these stipends. They would also have a platform to discuss teaching responsibilities, class sizes and healthcare benefits, ensuring fairer working conditions overall.

“If the university cares about producing fruitful academic results, both for students and in terms of research, they really should take the well-being of our graduate students into concern,” said a GLU member.

In balancing their jobs as instructors with taking classes and doing research, last month’s pickets allowed graduate students to have a sense of power. By connecting with other graduate students across the university, they witnessed the strong support and solidarity for union rights firsthand. 

“Folks who are pushing for this union aren’t just from one college or one set of departments,” Bailey said. “It just seems to be across the board.”

Just within the past year, the push for graduate student union rights has seen huge growth. According to Langron, in November, 400 graduate student workers gathered on campus for GLU’s recognition rally. After the most recent picket, those numbers doubled.  

“I think it was one of the most special moments that I have had here at UMD. It was amazing to see everyone come together and to speak in one voice,” Langton said

Featured Image: A sign from UMD’s Graduate Labor Union. Photo by Anika Stikeleather.