Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Maine State Workers Ratify New Contract with Wage and Benefit Gains

Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Members of the Maine Service Employees Association-SEIU Local 1989 (MSEA-SEIU) ratified a new, two-year contract good through June 30, 2027.

“We are taking the gains we won together—and getting organized for the fights ahead,” said MSEA-SEIU on its website.

The new contract includes across-the-board wage increases of 4.5% effective the pay week closest to Sept. 1, 2026; a $2,000 lump sum payment; an increase from 80% to 85% of the federal mileage rate; Department of Health and Human Services license renewal reimbursement; an ECS Training Stipend increase to $2; reimbursement for advanced courses, licenses and certifications; improved Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations; a six-month pilot program to study where schedule flexibility is being denied, why agencies may be denying alternate work schedules and whether flexible work schedules can be expanded; creation of a contractual alternative work schedule appeal process; and numerous other gains.