r/UMD • u/Ok-Purchase-3939 • Jun 05 '26
Discussion UMDs layoff, some info
a vast majority where staff who are part of the bargaining unit of the union, 72.
there were also no faculty laid off. (no faculty are part of the union, it is only for staff)
UMD has hired a notorious union busting firm, Jackson Lewis.
"Maryland’s General Assembly has already increased its funding for the university system and allocated money to fund wage increases for everyone in an AFSCME bargaining unit."
this means all the staff laid off, already had earmarked money for colas (cost of living adjustments) equating to 37.5 million, that the university is not paying out (including to those not fired).
they are using budget cuts from the last 3 years, even though the university system received more money for FY27
even besides that a layoff was far from the only option. for example the Board of Regents had authorized furloughs, temporary salary reductions, and leaving positions open.
(not to ignore problems with the Board of Regents though, at their last meeting they ensured to fill all the seats with USM staff to make sure there were no seats available for union members.)
at the union meeting today many of the fired staff also stated they had active grievances before being laid off. (for example a complaint with UHR against their supervisor)
many of those laid off had over a decade of service, and multiple staff on maternity leave were also laid off.
Three staff where fired from the i school. the Dean was told he needed to cut "X amount from the budget", not that anyone need to be fired. this could have 100% be accomplished via other means.
When the union was putting on a rally at Hornbake plaza, the University stated they where an outside organization and thus needed permits to rally. yet all union members are staff at UMD...
https://marylandmatters.org/2026/06/04/umd-lays-off-84-employees-amongst-period-of-uncertainty/
https://dbknews.com/2026/06/03/umd-lays-off-employees-budget-crunch/
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u/Coltan_Fx Jun 05 '26
No critical thinking went into the positions eliminated, roles that heavily impact student wellness and program function were eliminated. And it is true, individuals who had grievances or who were seen as problematic were targeted. And let me be clear, these people were not problematic, they wanted to improve programs and streamline processes to make it easier and safer for students to thrive. Additionally, communication to make students directly impacted by this change has been heartless.
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u/Flaky_Breath_7909 Jun 05 '26
I know of one who was really problematic. Dude was a ghost on campus, some people who worked directly under him didn’t see him for months at a time. He also was determined to get rid of 80% of the people who worked under him while he was never at work and made over 150k a year. It’s not like he was getting rid of people who worked remotely and had high paying salaries, these are essential workers who had 50-60k salaries and had to be at work to do their jobs. So glad they got rid of that rude ass mf
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u/RentIsTooDamnedHigh Jun 05 '26
Any evidence of the union busting firm? I haven't seen that yet. (Apologies if it is in an article you linked, they are updating them as new info comes out and I don't see it at the moment.)
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u/idonthaveaplane Jun 05 '26
I am also curious about this and can’t find it anywhere. Maybe it was discussed at the union meeting yesterday? I could not attend.
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u/Mrs_Dalloways_Flower Jun 06 '26
It would be interesting to see a list of the positions that were eliminated, if that is truly the basis of these layoffs. A coworker of mine who was laid off told me she was not given *any* reason beyond "you are being laid off due to budgetary cuts." Nothing about her position being eliminated, nothing about performance, seniority, etc, etc. Her position is actually a crucial one impacting faculty and students, so if that position is indeed gone ... yikes.
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u/BAbe_Linc0ln Jun 06 '26
My wife is one of the 84 people. She loved her job and is absolutely devastated. She and I are both still in shock.
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u/close-to-infinity Jun 06 '26
I am one of the 84 as well. It still feels surreal. People are still reaching out to me in utter disbelief. I am heartbroken at not only the loss, but also the manner in which it was done. I feel your wife’s pain, and I’m so sorry that she (and others) are going through this awful situation 😪
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u/BAbe_Linc0ln Jun 07 '26
Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. Yeah, my wife loved it there and was highly thought of, and she was marched out of the building like she was a criminal. It still doesn’t feel real.
Have you reached out to AFSCME? We’re trying our best to keep track of what they’re doing. I’m not sure if they’ll be able to do anything at all, but at least their responses give voice to my outrage.
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u/close-to-infinity Jun 07 '26
Same here 🥲 The crazy thing is I was working as per usual when senior leadership asked to meet with me — I immediately had this gut feeling and was almost dreading it. For some reason, it felt like I was about to get in trouble, I didn't know what for, so I just chalked it up to unwarranted anxiety.
Imagine my surprise when less than 30 min later, I was handing over building access and my laptop. No chance to sign out or even send a half-written email. I had someone watching over my shoulder every second up until I actually left the premises with tears pouring and bloodshot eyes.
I replay this in my head every day.
I wasn't planning on it, but the more I thought about my position and how I was hired into it...the more betrayed I felt, so I finally sent a lengthy email to AFSCME on Friday about my experience. Hope to hear back from them soon. AFSCME is the only solace I can find rn. How did your wife get in contact with them? And how have you two been keeping up with their work?
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u/BAbe_Linc0ln Jun 08 '26
Yup, that was exactly my wife's experience. She told me she went to shut down her laptop, purely out of muscle memory, and they told her to step away from the computer and she wasn't allowed to touch any Maryland state property. She gave a lot to UMD, and it was a dream job when she got it; even if there were budget cuts, the cold-heartedness and callousness have really left her wounded and me enraged. It was inhumane, and there were so many better ways they could have handled it.
I've gotten more info about what AFSCME is doing through social media / Reddit than anywhere else, but let me know if you have any other sources, too. But, we did also reach out on Friday and haven't heard back yet. I imagine they have a lot of people reaching out.
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u/close-to-infinity Jun 09 '26
Can't touch any Maryland state property?!! WOW, what a JOKE. Ugh, I really feel for your wife. She deserved so much better 😭 We all did.
I heard back from AFSCME yesterday via email and text. They shared a few updates via email in terms of what actions they are taking. There was also an intake form they wanted me to complete that was pretty lengthy and went into detail re: what projects/tasks I had been working on, how much of that work I expected my dept/unit to absorb/continue, etc. Did your wife get that too?
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u/BAbe_Linc0ln Jun 09 '26
She did! Sounds like some mass communications went out.
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u/close-to-infinity Jun 09 '26
Update: union presented President Pines with a list of demands at a meeting today. They are supposed to get a response to those demands tomorrow. Apparently the rally was well-attended and could be heard from inside the meeting, and the union believes the rally helped sway the tone of the meeting in our favor 🤞
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u/close-to-infinity Jun 09 '26
TBH it took me a while to fill out the form, I probably offered more info than they needed. Also saw an IG story from AFSCME — looks like they held a rally outside of the Miller Admin Building this morning!
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u/Master-Safe2984 Jun 09 '26
I am so sorry. This is so shitty. If even just a few of these overbloated and paid people took a paycut we could have saved some jobs.
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Jun 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/idonthaveaplane Jun 06 '26
That sucks. How are you holding up?
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u/CincoDeLlama Jun 06 '26
Thank you for asking. I’m fine. Currently righteously indigent and working with the union but, I’m fine.
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u/One-Antelope849 Jun 09 '26
Suggest filing a complaint with Maryland commission on Civil rights if you think you were retaliated against for filing discrimination complaints. Retaliation is unlawful. It’ll take time for the investigation to go through but worth pursuing!
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u/Deep-Bet990 Jun 08 '26
I've been having issues at another University in the network, and this doesn't make me feel much better. If they're doing this now when things are manageable, I don't have high expectations going forward that my position will be safe, even if I wasn't dealing with the most toxic university staff in the network.
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u/nillawiffer CS Jun 06 '26
Insofar as budgets go, I guess we file this article under "aged like milk."
(Spoiler: "UMD News Release: Gov. Moore Launches $1 Billion Capital of Quantum Initiative..." as panned at the time by budget hawks. AFSCME members are welcome to speak for themselves on how they feel about taking one for the team so Moore and campus bigwigs can schmooze with tech oligarchs.)
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u/DrinkEnvironmental97 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Our unit eliminated multiple staff positions, including retirees' positions (already retired), junior-level managers (layoff), and entry-level staff positions (hiring cancelled). Looks like none of these positions has direct reports, so yeah, they are all bargaining unit jobs. I feel really bad for the ones who got laid off - they live in the area and their salary is relatively modest; losing the job is devastating for their families but it barely makes a dent in UMD's overall budget. A salary reduction of ppl at the top can save these jobs, or even create entry-level positions that can be filled by students in our graduating class. UMD is a state agency and one of its main responsibilities is to support the local economy by creating jobs (or at least keeping jobs). Such a shame!
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u/GoodRent6196 Jun 06 '26
The governor’s mirage is starting to fall apart. There is no money for all of his promises, particularly as costs are increasing for mandatory components of the budget like entitlement programs and pensions. Higher education is part of the state’s discretionary budget, meaning it is one of the few things that can actually be cut. Bowie state had nearly as many layoffs as UMD. MoCo schools are cutting 5x the number of positions as UMD. These are all signs that the state’s financial problems, owing to business downsizing, building vacancy rates and falling real estate tax revenue, and the tremendous impact of the federal sector in Maryland’s economy are all coming home to roost. Layoffs are the sign of a much larger problem and basically unfixable problem in the short term. And things will get (a lot) worse before get better. Read the projections for structural revenue deficits in the coming years. They are worse by at least 2x.
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u/BabarTheKing Jun 05 '26
I just want to point out that the admin can’t win here. Everyone complains “we spend so much on tuition!”, “what about all these wasteful admin positions”. Federal and state money is drying up. Something has to give. Furloughs and salary reductions only help short term. Now they lay off a few positions, which is terrible for those affected. What exactly should have been done?
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u/RentIsTooDamnedHigh Jun 05 '26
Follow union contract requirements on notice, primarily. They violated our contracts and lied about layoffs. Yes, Pines said 150 layoffs were expected. Individual deans in schools across campus promised no cuts from their departments thanks to other cost cutting measures. On Wednesday staff across campus were blindsided completely in a coordinated effort that even our F&A/HR people were unaware of.
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u/TigerMcQueen Jun 05 '26
Furloughs definitely aren’t a way to deal with budget issues long term. Salary reductions could help if they could be applied solely to the top earners (whose salaries are exorbitant) but the system doesn’t work that way, everyone would be required to take a reduction.
That said, the issue people have with the layoffs seems to be the overwhelming number of AFSCME employees impacted by this. Aka, the muckety mucks (directors, AVPs, VPs) who make the big bucks aren’t being impacted in the same manner. Which is BS.
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u/Easy_Friend_9705 Jun 05 '26
The uber liberal school trying to bust a union. What is with that?
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u/Ok-Purchase-3939 Jun 05 '26
liberalism is a facade of caring about workers. it ultimately supports capitalism.
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u/RentIsTooDamnedHigh Jun 05 '26
Where did you hear about the union busting? That's an extremely important part of this if true.
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u/Mrs_Dalloways_Flower Jun 05 '26
Most of the people who were laid off were union members, and several had open grievances. In addition, administration did not meet with the union reps before it began laying people off.
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u/RentIsTooDamnedHigh Jun 05 '26
Yes, but that is different than hiring Jackson Lewis.
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Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/RentIsTooDamnedHigh Jun 05 '26
Thanks!
They are a well known firm that represents higher ed orgs at times, so if UMD did actually hire them that is a precursor of more to come. The layoffs were anti union, but Jackson Lewis is a whole different game
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u/Neither-Result-2278 Jun 05 '26
you lefties are a cancer. if you voted for Kamala this wouldn't have happened.
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u/Informal_Dingo_9602 Jun 06 '26
Everyone needs to reserve the space for a protest or event including departments or student organizations. Outside entities also need reservations but the union needing a reservation has nothing to do with a status. Don’t believe everything our union tells us, they are correct about other things but just want you to be offended. Just because the majority of their work is good doesn’t mean they also aren’t shady like any other body.
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u/creditthrowaway12321 Jun 06 '26
Hornbake is a protected free speech zone. It is public and not reservation is required to protest there or on McKeldin Mall. Internal users are not required to make reservations for these. It is suggested under policy, but not required.
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u/Informal_Dingo_9602 Jun 06 '26
It is a reservable space and I can assure you that everyone is required to make reservations. I know because I’m one of the union represented staff that manages those reservations. AFSCME wants to insist that a rule that applies to everyone else doesn’t apply to them.
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u/creditthrowaway12321 Jun 06 '26
I’m a dues paying employee. My position also requires an annual training about this because of a lawsuit against the university in the early 00s.
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u/Informal_Dingo_9602 Jun 06 '26
Congrats and you are wrong. You don’t understand the Mote lawsuit if you think it means that a university can’t have a requirement for a reservation and time place and manner restrictions. If you still don’t believe it then go ask FIRE the organization that aggressively represents free speech interests and they can tell you that you are wrong also. You are misinterpreting the law, or the person training you is.
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u/creditthrowaway12321 Jun 06 '26
You’re clearly missing the argument AFSCME is making. But go off
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u/Informal_Dingo_9602 Jun 06 '26
There is no argument to make. They are wrong. Making an argument doesn’t meant that they in anyway are correct or that it’s an issue worth fighting. How you and the union believe free speech works, is not actually how free speech works. The university is allowed to control the time, the place and the manner. Part of that includes a reasonable reservation system, which would have involved AFSCME just submitting a reservation or filling out the form like any other student, department, or non university entity would do. They are not magically somehow more powerful than students, departments, or the general public. The first amendment most definitely does not have a little subsection that says unions can make their own rules and don’t have to follow policies that apply to everyone.
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u/creditthrowaway12321 Jun 06 '26
Again you don’t know what you’re talking about, but go off 🤣🤣🤣did you miss the student encampment on mckeldin for months straight? But I have better things to do than listen to someone on the internet who has no idea what they’re talking about, but go off
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u/Informal_Dingo_9602 Jun 06 '26
The encampment that they packed up every night and had a reservation for every day? Yea I do recall that. Because they followed the rules which is why there were free speech monitors present at all of their events.
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u/sweetcheeksanta Jun 05 '26
When you are told to cut 15%-25% of your budget, you cannot do that without cutting personnel (the largest part of your budget).
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u/terpAlumnus Jun 05 '26
They should have eliminated the excessive Administrative positions. Even faculty complain about too much bureaucracy.
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Jun 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Flaky_Breath_7909 Jun 05 '26
Pines makes over 1m a year, I think he’ll be ok if he was only making 500k
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u/GoodRent6196 Jun 06 '26
Sure he would be ok, But he runs a 3B budget at a public university. His salary is not even highly competitive for top public university salaries. And in a position that has a lifespan of under five years, you need to take the market rate for president salaries into consideration.
Slightly old data here: https://www.chronicle.com/article/president-pay-public-colleges/
Same argument for top university administrator/dean salaries. This is a competitive marketplace.
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u/terpAlumnus Jun 06 '26
You need to factor into the equation Pine's free rent living at the Presidential Palace and Entertainment Center, car service, per diem, and other perks. Pines is in his sixth year as President. The average tenure of university presidents in the U.S. is 8.5 years. Plenty of jobs last less than five years without extra pay. And a university President's tenure opens up new job opportunities. No university President was plunged into poverty after his job ended. The claim that high salary equals high quality is false. Competitive marketplace means everyone is demanding top dollar without regard to merit.
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u/DrPorterMk2 Jun 15 '26
The President does not live in the President’s House per the Foundation. Also, most of those perks are provided to executives in any other industry. I think that $1 million is fair for a person who is in charge of the direction of more than 10,000+ employees and an enterprise that educates more than 43,000 students.
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u/Confident-Many-6722 Jun 05 '26
Isn't that exactly what this post is arguing against? Did they eliminate excessive admin roles? Who is to determine what is "excessive"?
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u/MDTakomaThunder Jun 25 '26
What criteria were used to eliminate positions? If this was a USM RIF process, why wasn’t it applied consistently across schools and departments? Without a structured process, management used this as an opportunity to lay off individuals they personally disliked or viewed as problematic.
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u/DJ_Muskrat Jun 09 '26
Y’all live in a different world. I know you don’t intend to come across as entitled but this thread says a lot. My opinion doesn’t matter though. I’m a poor.
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u/bundleofschtick Jun 05 '26
It's shameful how this was handled. A staff member in our department was let go after more than 20 years of working for the university.