Mills Administration Applauds AFSCME’s Ratification of a Two-Year Contract
The union’s two-year contract with the State will deliver a six percent pay increase effective October 1st with another pay increase to follow
AUGUSTA, Maine – The Mills Administration today applauded the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) on its ratification of a two-year contract with the State of Maine.
The contract provides a six percent pay increase effective October 1, 2023, with an additional three percent pay increase to follow, effective July 1, 2024. The contract also establishes a new higher pay tier that provides a four percent increase over the lower tier for those employees who had reached their maximum allowed pay. It also increases paid parental leave, expands bereavement leave, increases child care reimbursement, time-off, longevity pay, shift differentials, and more.
“AFSCME’s contract is the result of respectful, productive negotiations that deliver on 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 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 for people.”
“This contract is the end result of countless hours of good faith negotiations by both parties,” said AFSCME Council 93 Executive Director Mark Bernard. “Like most collective bargaining agreements, it required compromise from both sides, but, overall, we are satisfied with what we were able to accomplish at the bargaining table. Our state corrections and mental health professionals do very difficult and very dangerous work for the people of Maine. We applaud the efforts of our negotiating team led by Mike Coogan, and we look forward to continuing our cooperative work with the Mills Administration to improve their wages, benefits and working conditions.”
AFSCME approved a tentative agreement with State on August 17, 2023. That agreement was formally ratified through a vote of the union’s membership on September 14, 2023. AFSCME is the State’s second largest union, representing approximately 1,039 employees.
The ratified contract builds on the pay raises the State has provided for its employees. Under Governor Mills, the State has increased wages by nearly 14 percent. This increase over four years amounts to 40 percent more than the increases provided over the entire decade before Governor Mills assumed office. This includes raising pay for employees by three percent in September 2019, four percent in January 2021, two percent in December 2021, and an additional four percent in July 2022. To see a complete schedule of raises provided through contract negotiations under the past three governors, click HERE.
In addition to these pay increases, the Mills Administration has:
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Established paid parental leave during the 2019-2021 negotiations and then doubled that leave from two weeks to four weeks in the 2021-2023 negotiations for the birth or adoption of a child (now increased to six weeks in the 2023-2025 AFSCME contract);
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Increased starting pay to $15 per hour, which increased pay for 382 employees, representing an average pay increase of 9 percent for the lowest paid positions in the State workforce, and an increase of more than 21 percent for those who had previously been earning the minimum wage;
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Issued a one-time $2,000 payment to employees in December 2021 (payment was prorated for seasonal, part-time, and/or intermittent employees and was issued March 2022 for law enforcement positions);
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Improved longevity pay for workers with over ten years of service.
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