Bill > HB211

This bill amends Maryland's state personnel laws to provide collective bargaining rights to graduate assistants and remove previous provisions regarding postdoctoral associates at system institutions, Morgan State University, and St. Mary's College of Maryland. Specifically, the bill defines a "graduate assistant" as a graduate student working in a teaching, administrative, research, or comparable position, and creates a separate collective bargaining unit for these graduate assistants. The legislation modifies existing employment classifications to explicitly include graduate assistants as eligible for collective bargaining and removes previous language about postdoctoral associates. The bill expands employee protections by allowing graduate assistants to negotiate wages, hours, and other terms of employment through authorized representatives, similar to other employee groups. The changes will take effect on July 1, 2025, giving institutions time to prepare for the new collective bargaining provisions. Key terms like "collective bargaining" are defined to mean good faith negotiations between employee representatives and employers to reach agreements about employment conditions and resolve workplace disputes.

Budget and Finance

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0211?ys=2025RS