State employee Justin Norris chants outside the governor’s mansion, “Hey Janet Mills, we can’t pay our bills” alongside his fellow union members on Sept. 26. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
After factoring in wage increases, analysis finds state government wages continue to lag behind private and public sector counterparts
Reposted from the Maine Morning Star
Maine’s state government and the union representing state employees are at odds over how much they say government workers are paid in relation to the private sector — an ongoing debate following the conclusion of months-long contract negotiations in December.
On Jan. 31, the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) released a report about the steps taken by Gov. Janet Mills’ administration to decrease the gap between what state employees earn and the amount they could earn working equivalent positions outside state government, noting several wage increases for union workers in recent years.
During a presentation to the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee on Thursday, DAFS Commissioner Kirsten Figueroa said wages have increased by at least 24% in less than five years, totaling the increases from the previous 16 years combined.
“It is time to set aside the phrase ‘pay gap’ and acknowledge the actual progress in pay and benefits that the Mills administration has championed and, with legislative support, delivered,” the report reads.
However, after factoring in these wage increases, an analysis from the Maine Center for Economic Policy found that state government wages continue to lag behind those of their public and private sector counterparts in Maine and New England.
“The pay gap is very real and, in fact, is even bigger today than it was in 2019,” James Myall, economic policy analyst for the MECEP, told the committee.
Compared to January 2019, wages for state workers will increase 24% by July 2024, however private sector wages have increased more than that over the same period, Myall said. Myall explained that the average weekly earnings of private sector workers increased by 30% between 2019 and 2023, citing data from the Maine Department of Labor, and will increase to 35% by 2024, according to projections from the Maine Economic Forecasting Commission.
Myall told the committee on Thursday that Maine faces an overall workforce shortage, not just within state agencies.
“If we’re in a labor market where we have a shortage of available workers, we need to ensure that the most attractive jobs are these critical ones that are delivering public services, rather than working in retail or fast food,” Myall said.
The goal of the Mills administration is to ensure that Maine state employees are appropriately compensated to the greatest extent possible within budgetary constraints, Figueroa told the committee.
“We are not saying that we have fixed everything, that we’ve dialed in every position in state government, but the progress is significant, measurable and responsive,” Figueroa said, also noting that the state has also had to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented inflation.
In December, the Mills administration and unionized executive branch workers reached a collective bargaining agreement, after working without a contract since June. The workers received a 6% pay increase Jan. 1 and will receive another 3% increase in July, when a new pay level will also be added to provide a boost for workers who have already reached their maximum salaries.
The DAFS report outlines future recruitment and retention efforts, such as improved pay upon promotion through recruitment and retention stipends and the Bureau of Human Resources adding staff dedicated to talent recruitment.
“Yes, we have higher than normal vacancies, not unlike employers across the country,” Figueroa said. “We are working on retention and recruitment efforts, which quite honestly have been made more of a challenge because some of our detractors are so vocal in their criticism.”
State worker support behind an emergency proposal
That criticism has far from ceased. Leadership and members of the Maine Service Employees Association, the union that represents more than 9,000 state workers, pointed to the MECEP analysis when urging the committee on Thursday to pass an emergency bill proposed by Rep. Drew Gattine (D-Westbrook) aimed to address chronic understaffing in state government.
The measure calls for annual reports on job vacancies in the executive branch, third party intervention when arbitration stalls (an issue during the recent contract negotiations), establishing recruitment programs for state agencies and transferring funds into a new special revenue account for salary adjustment.
Specifically, it would require the state controller to move $165 million from the unappropriated surplus of the general fund to the new account, which would be located within DAFS’s salary plan program.
This proposal would be a follow up to a measure from Gattine that Mills funded in her budget last year to implement a comprehensive review of the classification and compensation system for executive branch employees.
“To me it’s also very much a ‘good government’ bill,” Gattine said, “recognizing that when one in six state positions are unfilled, that something is dramatically wrong and Maine people will not be able to achieve the level of service they’re entitled to from their government.”
State employees and people who work with state agencies shared stories of inadequate services due to insufficient staffing.
Sarah Woodbury works closely with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in her role as vice president of programs and policy for Defend Our Health, a nonprofit that advocates for equal access to basic necessities like safe drinking water and food.
Last year, the Legislature passed a bill requiring that the state test farms for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, where sludge had been spread and providing funding for new positions. However, the DEP consistently had open positions and when some were filled, people only lasted for a few months, Woodbury said.
“This has hindered the DEP’s ability to do the work required under the Safer Chemical Program,” Woodbury said. “The commissioner mentioned that we need to balance our priorities in terms of funding, and I don’t necessarily disagree, but I do believe that people should be the top priority here in Maine.”
Brian Markey works for the Maine Department of Transportation as an assistant technician, but he told the committee that he has a second job to make ends meet. His part-time job with Bangor Aviation Food Service pays him $30/hour to service vending machines, he said. His main job operating large machinery for the DOT pays him $22/hour, workloads for which are often large because of understaffing, he added.
“This is all dangerous and hard work,” Markey said. “It requires our full attention to keep everyone safe, not just our workers but the general public as well. In fact, the Maine DOT is so short staffed on plow drivers right now, they have asked me to plow this winter due to staffing shortages.”
Another DOT worker Payson Wiers spoke about working 24 to 30 hour shifts plowing during recent storms. “I’m healthy but the last storm — 30 hours — I’m only human,” Wiers told the committee. This coming September will mark 45 years for Wiers working at DOT and his pay has topped out at about $26/hour, he said, adding that private contractors in Southern Maine offer that as starting pay.
Beyond the public hearing for this proposal, other state workers, such as those in Child Development Services and the Office of Child and Family Services, have shared stories with the Legislature of insufficient wages and staffing.
Forthcoming report
The state last conducted a market study of state employee wages in 2020, which found that they were paid, on average, 11% below market compared with other public sector employees and 15% below market compared with the private sector. On Thursday, Figueroa told the committee that there should be no more pointing to old studies, which she described as out of date and flawed.
Under state law, a study comparing the salaries of state employees with non-state employees performing comparable work was due Jan. 31.
Tom Feeley, general counsel for MSEA, testified that the state has not met that requirement because its report did not include “a recalculation of the market salary report using current salary data,” as state law stipulates. According to the DAFS report, the state intends to conduct a new market study by September.
Correction: The section on the forthcoming report was edited to include additional context as well as the missed deadline for the salary report.
Emma Davis is a reporter based in Portland, Maine, where she focuses on government accountability.
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