Bill > SB84

This bill grants collective bargaining rights to graduate assistants at specific Maryland higher education institutions, including the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, by defining a "graduate assistant" as a graduate student in a teaching, administrative, or research role, or as a fellow or postdoctoral intern. The bill amends existing law to exclude graduate assistants from certain exemptions that previously prevented them from collective bargaining and establishes a distinct bargaining unit specifically for these graduate assistants, separate from other employee groups. Collective bargaining, in this context, refers to good-faith negotiations between employee representatives and their employer regarding wages, hours, and other employment conditions, as well as the administration of agreements and voluntary dispute resolution. The bill also specifies that this new provision will take effect in July 2028.