Collective Bargaining

Effective July 1, 2001, Senate Bill 207 gave certain University employees the right to bargain for wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment through negotiations between representatives of Management (Employer) and the Union (Employees). The end result of collective bargaining is the labor contract between and employer and the union. The parties often refer to the result of negotiations as the Collective Bargaining Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The Maryland State Higher Education Labor Relations Board (SHELRB) is an independent administrative agency that administers and enforces Maryland’s Collective Bargaining Law for higher education. The SHELRB has many duties under the law, including planning and overseeing representation elections and processing cases and complaints. In all of its functions, the Board is committed to supporting high quality employee-employer relations in Maryland higher education institutions.

The law established three potential bargaining units:

  • All eligible exempt employees
  • All eligible non-exempt employees
  • All eligible sworn police officers

Senate Bill 207 excluded employees from participating in collective bargaining if they were supervisory, confidential, and managerial. In addition, the following are excluded from participation in the collective bargaining process under the collective bargaining law: Faculty; Faculty Librarians; Student Employees including Teaching Assistants, Fellow or Post-Doc Interns; Contingent, Contractual, Temporary or Emergency Employees including positions funded through Research, or Service Grant or Contract, or Clinical Revenues; and employees whose regular place of employment is outside the State of Maryland.
To date, two of the three potential bargaining units have elected to have union representation and they both have negotiated contracts; they are:
1. Non-exempt bargaining unit – is represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). If you have any questions regarding the MOU, please contact Debbie Michaels, President (Local 1459) at 410-455-1459 or at dmichaels@umbc.edu. For a complete copy of the MOU between UMBC and AFSCME, see links below.
2. Sworn police officers bargaining unit – is represented by the Fraternal Order of the Police (FOP). If you have any questions regarding the MOU, please contact MPO Gary Cumbo, President, FOP Lodge # 129. He can be reached at 410-455-5555 or at cumbo123@umbc.edu.  For a complete copy of the MOU between UMBC and the FOP, please see the link below.

Questions?

You may also contact Michale Tallon at 410-455-1638 regarding collective bargaining questions.


Nonexempt Bargaining Unit

Memorandum of Understanding – Nonexempt Bargaining Unit
December 9, 2016 – June 30, 2019

Sworn Police Officers Bargaining Unit

Memorandum of Understanding – Sworn Police Officers Bargaining Unit
July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2026