Why are we focusing on the Governor and not the UMass Lowell Administration? Well, it’s because the Governor sets the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that the Commonwealth will fund over the next 3 years. For too many years, we have struggled with UML over getting the full amount of the money that the Governor set, while the administration tries to pass on a smaller amount of the authorized money to us in the form of a raise. MTA Higher Education Unions met this summer and have decided that we need to cut out the middleman and take our case directly to the Governor.
The need is clear. Recently, Massachusetts was shown to be the most expensive state for a family of fourto live in in the entire nation. If this wasn’t enough, teaching in the most expensive state in the country is further compounded by the fact that the average salary at Massachusetts 4-year public institutions lags behind 10 other states, including California, Hawaii, and even Virginia.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is one of the wealthiest states in the U.S., and it has collected billions of dollars through the Fair Share Amendment. Higher education is the 3rd largest industry in the Commonwealth, and it is time for the resources collected by the Fair Share Amendment to translate into Fair Wages for those of us working in public institutions of higher education who have been underpaid relative to our peers in other leading states.
To get fair wages and to address the financial pain caused by living in the most expensive state in the union, we need to put pressure directly on the Governor’s office and let her know what we need to keep Massachusetts a leader in providing world-class public education. This will mean that we need to raise our voice and make our demands known. We are asking that MSP Lowell members make plans to attend a meeting on September 30th, 2026, at 3:00 on Zoom and choose to make a personal endorsement of the demand for Fair Wages (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Q-qhfV7aRLCvPjd6yADyAQ).
This endorsement vote will kick off our campaign by demonstrating to the governor that we are united, across our job classifications, our campuses, and our university systems, in demanding a real cost-of-living adjustment that ACTUALLY meets our needs.
Your wages for the next 3 years are on the line, will you attend the endorsement vote being held via Zoom on September 30th, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. to VOTE YES to join our coalition of tens of thousands of public higher ed workers fighting for the wages that we deserve? We only win what we are willing to fight for and only if we fight together. Our wages for the next three years are on the line, and we only win what we are willing to fight for, together.
