(The Center Square) – Maryland was one of six states to receive an F for its public-sector labor laws in a new national report as lawmakers expanded collective bargaining rights to more government workers this year.
The Commonwealth Foundation’s fifth annual 50-State Labor Report gave Maryland its lowest grade under a system that generally gives higher marks to states with more restrictions on public-sector bargaining and union activity.
Maryland also received an F in the foundation’s 2024 report.
The Pennsylvania-based free-market group evaluates state laws covering issues such as collective bargaining, strikes, union certification, payroll deductions and right-to-work protections.
Maryland lawmakers approved several labor changes during the 2026 legislative session.
First-term Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation allowing certain graduate assistants at the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to collectively bargain. The law takes effect July 1, 2028.
Another law extended bargaining rights to qualifying nontenure-track faculty at University System of Maryland institutions, Morgan State University and St. Mary’s College of Maryland. That law just took effect July 1.
Lawmakers also approved collective bargaining rights for supervisory employees at the Baltimore County Public Library. That law also took effect July 1.
Maryland voters will decide another labor-related change in November.
The Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act changes the bargaining process for certain state employees and creates an arbitration process when negotiations reach an impasse. The measure was approved by Moore in April, but part of it requires voter approval through a constitutional referendum.
The proposed amendment will appear as Question 1 on the Nov. 3 ballot.
If approved, it would require the governor to include funding in the proposed state budget for wages, benefits and other employment terms contained in certain collective bargaining agreements, including terms determined through arbitration.
The Commonwealth Foundation counts broader collective bargaining rights and other union-related policies against states in its grading system.
Maryland joined California, Illinois, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington as the six states receiving an F.
David Osborne, the foundation’s senior director of labor policy and an author of the report, has argued that public-sector unions increasingly turned to state legislatures after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision.
The ruling barred governments from requiring public employees who are not union members to pay union fees for collective bargaining.
Maryland had already changed its public-sector labor framework before this year. The 2023 Public Employee Relations Act consolidated several labor-relations functions under the Public Employee Relations Board.
The foundation lists paycheck protection, ending paid release time and a public employees’ bill of rights among its recommended reforms for Maryland.