UMD Grad Workers with Governor Moore, bill sponsors, and labor allies 

May 26, 2026

The Law

On May 26, 2026 Governor Wes Moore signed the bill HB0141, which grants for the first time in Maryland’s history the right to collective bargaining to graduate workers at two public universities in Maryland (College Park and University of Maryland Baltimore County). This is thanks to the many years of countless efforts from graduate workers and our allies in other Maryland labor unions. 

More Work to Be Done

The bill was passed with three amendments which weakened it: 1) effective date delayed until July 1, 2028; 2) grant-funded positions excluded from the bargaining unit; 3) limited to only two out of the 14 campuses of University System of Maryland. Graduate workers at UMD will keep organizing and pressuring the legislature and university leadership until all of us can get to the bargaining table as soon as possible.

January 20, 2026

In the streets of campus and on the steps of the state house, UMD grad workers have made our demand for collective bargaining rights clear. Each year, legislation is proposed to grant collective bargaining rights to grad workers across Maryland. We had great meetings in Annapolis with legislators in the House and the Senate where we were able to explain the critical work that grads do and just how important it is to have a say in our working conditions. We’ll be watching closely to see what happens this legislative session.

Majority March

October 1, 2025

For a second time, over 1,000 grad workers marched to demand that the University recognize our Graduate Labor Union! Workers affirmed our demand for collective bargaining and vowed to continue to escalate if not met at the bargaining table. We are done playing by the rules that do not work for us! Take this as a sign, change is coming…

No Pay? No Way

July 17, 2025

After learning that 100+ grads across multiple colleges and departments were missing paychecks for their summer work, we made quick plans. A tedious trek through multiple admin buildings left us with no answers, and only more questions. When we were finally able to speak to administrators from the financial office, they were shocked to learn that this was such a widespread issue. This is after we had been promised that this issue would be elevated through the “proper channels”… The Dean of Graduate Studies thought that only 2 grads were affected. It took showing up as a group to finally be heard. 

Practice picket

February 26, 2025

Over 1,000 grad workers, a quarter of grad workers at UMD, gathered at four locations across campus for our practice picket before descending on McKeldin Mall! The chants echoed off the buildings as we proved the power of collective action. The message to the UMD administration was clear: we are not going away! We will do whatever it takes to get livable wages, protections for international students, and other necessary improvements for grad worker conditions. RECOGNITION NOW!

RECOGNITION RALLY

November 20, 2024

More than 400 graduate workers gathered on Hornbake Plaza for a powerful demonstration demanding that the UMD administration recognize our union. Thousands of grads, representing a *super-majority* of GAs on campus, support unionization. The only thing that stands in our way of a fair contract is the university administration’s blatant refusal to bargain with us. We marched to their offices to show them: GLU won’t back down. THIS is what a union looks like!

GENERAL BODY MEETING

October 1, 2024

More than 170 workers from 56 departments got together to democratically and collectively choose a strategy for the next few months. We discussed tactics, questions, concerns, and goals as a large group, and speakers presented on highlights from the campaign so far, data updates, and what’s at stake this year. Participants then broke into groups to rank potential union actions by effectiveness and to run new ideas by one another. It was a great night!

INFORMATION PICKET

April 27, 2024

Graduate workers gathered to show visitors what’s really going on at UMD at one of the biggest community outreach events of the year: Maryland Day. The University of Maryland works because we do!