The Maine State Law Enforcement Association (MSLEA) ratified a two-year contract with the State of Maine over the weekend, granting several pay increases, increases to paid parental leave, and other bonuses.
The MSLEA is the state’s third largest union, representing approximately 375 positions.
[RELATED: Mills Admin Seeks Mediation to Move Forward Contract Negotiations with Maine State Employee Union…
The contract, formally ratified by a vote of the union’s members on Sept. 29, provides a six percent pay increase for the pay period closest to Oct. 1, 2024, with an additional three percent increase effective July 1, 2024.
It also establishes a new higher pay tier of a four percent increase for state law enforcement employees who had reached their maximum allowed pay.
Additionally, the contract increases paid family leave to six weeks, adds two new longevity bonus increases, and allows incoming employees who have graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy to enter at a higher pay rate.
The Mills Administration applauded the ratification of the contract in a Tuesday press release.
“MSLEA’s contract is the second approved union contract within the last month, once again demonstrating our commitment to provide meaningful pay increases as part of an attractive compensation and benefits package for our employees,” said Kirsten Figueroa, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services.
“We deeply value our employees and their service and will continue to work hard to make the State of Maine an employer of choice,” Figueroa said.
State employees from the Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU) have been protesting at the Blaine House in recent days, demanding that the state “close the state employee pay gap.”
The union, comprised of over 12,000 members, says that the 2020 State of Maine Market Study Report shows state workers on average are paid 15 percent less than their public and private sector counterparts in Maine and New England.
