Maine State Workers Union Shocked at Mills Admin’s “Horror Show” Offer

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The labor union that represents Maine’s state government employees was stunned Tuesday evening when negotiators from the Mills Administration rejected their pay raise proposal and instead counter-offered with an agreement that fell far short of their expectations.

The Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA), which is part of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and is Maine’s second largest labor union, has been locked in tense negotiations with the Mills Administration all year.

The counteroffer from the Mills Administration is just another chapter in negotiations that haven’t gone well for state workers.

[RELATED: Buyer’s Remorse: MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, Maine’s 2nd Largest Union, Files Complaint After Mills Blows Off Talks…]

According to documents reviewed by the Maine Wire, on April 5 the MSEA proposed pay increases, starting July 1, that would increase the base pay of all state workers by $5.00 per hour plus an additional 22 percent increase. In July 2024, the union proposal would add an additional 15 percent “across-the-board salary increase.”

Breena Bissell, Director of the Bureau of Human Resources, whose 2022 compensation was worth $157,289, countered with a 4 percent raise starting Jan. 1, 2024 followed by a 3 percent raise starting Jan. 1, 2025. Bissell also rejected outright several other union asks related to telework, time off, and worker safety.

MSEA documents say Bissell offered the paltry raises as part of a package proposal that the union could either accept or reject by 9:00 am Thursday.

The union’s bargaining team rejected the offer out of hand Tuesday night.

“The team and those attending the session on 7/25 considered the package and rejected it on 7/25,” the MSEA said in an internal document. “This means that the proposals and counters remain what they were for both sides prior to the package being offered.”

MSEA members were shocked by the low counter proposal and expressed their displeasure during a 90-minute zoom session.

One top organizer called the counter offer a “horror show.”

MSEA officials did not respond to a request for comment from the Maine Wire.

In March, MSEA President Dean Staffieri filed charges of labor law violations against Mills and her lead negotiator.

The union alleged that the Mills Administration had engaged in bad-faith bargaining and used unlawful tactics.

The Mills Administration’s low-ball counteroffer came on the same day the State Senate approved pay raises for future state lawmakers.

State lawmakers in the next session will receive $25,000 in the first year of the session and $20,000 for the second.

Since 2000, lawmakers had received just $10,815 for year one and $7,725 for year two, plus reimbursement for travel and lodging.

Politically, the Mills Administration’s hardline tactics against the MSEA are a bit of a head scratcher.

The MSEA is a longstanding ally of the Maine Democratic Party, with members regularly being deployed as foot soldiers in legislative and gubernatorial campaigns.

The MSEA also represents employees at a host of left-wing groups, including Planned Parenthood of Maine, the Maine ACLU, and the Maine People’s Alliance, though their contracts were not part of Tuesday night’s bargaining session.

UPDATE: After publication of this story, the MSEA sent an email to members expressing disappointment in the Mills Administration. That email included a link to the offer Bissell made.

Here are some excerpts from that email:

Dear Executive Branch Co-workers,

Last week, Governor Janet Mills rightfully put out a statement demanding UPS workers get the “fair contract they have earned.”

Disappointingly, we have yet to see that same support for state workers in our request for a fair contract. Throughout the pandemic the administration frequently praised state employees for our work assisting our communities through extremely challenging times.  Unfortunately, mortgages and grocery bills can’t be paid with “thank you’s.” Nor are they enough to recruit and retain workers to provide the services the people of Maine rely on. There are serious concerns that state workers need addressed in our current contract negotiations, including, but not limited to: wages, health and safety, telework, retirement, and other benefits. We have yet to see the administration’s bargaining team seriously address these concerns at the bargaining table.

Last night, the administration’s bargaining team came to the table with their first counterproposal on wages as part of a lackluster and disappointing package proposal. We rejected the package. Here’s why:

The package included:

• No raise in 2023;
• 4% raise Jan. 1, 2024;
• 3% raise Jan. 1, 2025;
• Mileage reimbursement at 70% of the federal mileage rate, which at 46 cents per mile is no actual change in the current rate;
• Small movement on bereavement leave, while maintaining the structure that ranks the importance of family members;
• The package made small movement on state vehicles and the tools article, while also requiring the union to accept all the other takeaways management has proposed and outright rejecting all proposals to improve Health and Safety, Telework, and all other compensation and reimbursement improvements.

A “package” proposal requires the other side to either accept or reject the whole package by a set date and time. Management passed a package proposal on 7/25 with the expiration date at 9am Thursday 7/27. The team and those attending the session on 7/25 discussed the package in a caucus. The package and the current counters outside of the package that the administration’ s bargaining team have brought to the table are disgracefully out of step with the changes that need to be made to recruit and retain staff. The administration’s team has so far refused to seriously engage with and address non-economic demands for change to scheduling, health and safety and telework. While their initial raises may have felt like significant progress five years ago, with inflation and the ever-growing pay gap, their offer still put workers behind. Pay for state employees lags far behind both private and public sector workers who do similar work throughout New England. Two state studies, one in 2009 and another in 2020, show state workers are underpaid by 15% on average. The salary offered, even with the proposed increases, would be for many less than the salary offered at local fast-food restaurants.

With nearly one in six positions in state government vacant due to the state’s inability to recruit and retain workers at the current pay rates and huge challenges retaining workers under current working conditions, management’s package still did not acknowledge the current reality for workers.

Seeing that it fell far short on wages and failed to address nearly anything else in our demands, we rejected the package last night after returning from caucus. This means that the proposals and counters remain what they were for both sides prior to the package being offered.