Michigan State University Extension employees packed the room at Friday's Board of Trustees meeting to demand higher wages amid stalled contract negotiations. 

It's been a tumultuous year for employees within Extension — MSU's agricultural education and research outreach arm that operates throughout Michigan. Extension employees voted to unionize less than a year ago, and layoffs due to federal funding shortages have affected nearly 100 workers.

Extension has employees stationed in each county in Michigan, and Board Chair Brianna Scott noted in a press conference after the meeting that Extension is the “footprint” of MSU. 

Still, concerns over insufficient wages drove a dozen extension employees from across the state to East Lansing on Friday to direct their complaints to the board.

‘We’ve put in the miles’

Extension employees said they traveled from across the state to speak at the board meeting during the public comment period, some driving hours to be present. Decked in matching blue shirts, MSU Extension United members stood from their seats in solidarity while speakers shared their grievances. 

Each of the 12 public speakers from Extension shared similar concerns: That management has been rewarded with raises year after year, while rank-and-file employees are given small bumps to their already low salaries. 

Funding from MSU for Extension is only enough to cover administrative salaries, leaving low-level extension employees to generate their own salaries, according to a pamphlet handed out by the union and verified by UNTF President Victor Rodriguez-Pereira. 

“We have put in the miles, and now we need the administration to meet us at the destination. Every day I hear from colleagues, forced to choose between their passion for Extension and their ability to pay rent,” Finance and Homeownership Extension Educator Carrie Grishaber said during public comment.