Graduate students tend to be forgotten in discussions about higher education. We ask you to protect graduate education because graduate students workers are necessary to the work of the university and the State. Maryland is committed to investing in a knowledge-based economy and President Obama seeks to have 55% of Americans with a college degree in the next ten years. Graduate student workers are teaching this next generation of citizens. University of Maryland was just ranked 5th in the nation as best value – this is a ranking that is a combination of quality and affordability. Graduate students assistants play a vital role in enabling so many students to have access to excellent education at an affordable price. Which is why I ask for your support for the Higher Education Workforce Equity Act (HB972/SB 859). If passed, this bill will allow graduate students workers, tenured-track faculty, and adjunct faculty the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The Graduate Student Government at College Park has unanimously passed a resolution in favor of the legal right to collective bargaining. As a graduate student worker, I ask for this right as some of the most vulnerable academic workers. As part of the greater graduate student population, we are not necessarily calling for unionization on our campus, but we ask that we not be prohibited by law from making such a choice ourselves if we determine it is necessary.