There were two so-called “Right to Work” bills this session – LD 788 and LD 309. Such bills are designed to weaken unions and undercut workers’ ability to negotiate a decent contract. Under state and federal law, unions are required to represent all workers fairly and equally whether or not they join the union. LD 788 would have made it illegal for private sector employers and workers to agree that all workers share the costs of collective bargaining and representation. This would allow workers to get all the benefits of representation without sharing in any of the costs. Workers in so-called “Right to Work” states tend to have lower wages, more dangerous working conditions and lower overall living standards. As originally proposed, LD 309 repealed the long-standing process for establishing who represents public sector workers in contract negotiations and provided no new process to replace it. As amended, LD 309 is a Right to Work bill for State workers. The bill also restricts the bargaining rights of all public sector employees and it prohibits the collection of union dues after the expiration of a union contract – a clear attempt to stack the bargaining table in favor of the employer. LD 309 followed a very unusual path. The bill sat in Committee for months and was referred out of committee without a public hearing. Late in the session, the Governor’s office became very involved and the bill was unexpectedly sent back to Committee. The roll call votes in the House and Senate were procedural votes that if passed would have killed the bill. After a lengthy public hearing, the Committee voted to hold LD 309 over until next session.

As originally proposed, this bill would have eliminated overtime, state minimum wage and collective bargaining rights for agricultural workers on the largest factory egg farms, such as Decoster Egg Farms. LD 1207 repeals first amendment freedoms to organize and associate for factory farm workers doing some of the most difficult, dirty and dangerous work. The bill was amended in committee to strictly repeal collective bargaining rights for these agricultural workers. It passed the House, but did not receive a vote in the Senate and has been carried over until 2012.

This was one of several cases this session where legislators would have been better off had they followed the wise advice that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. LD 1257 banned project labor agreements (PLAs) on public works construction projects - publicly funded State projects over $50,000 on things like roads, bridges, airports, sewers, etc. A Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is a business model that increases the efficiency and quality of construction projects for the private and public sector and ensures good working conditions. It is a pre-hire, project-wide negotiated agreement to set terms and conditions of employment usually on large, complex, long duration construction projects. While Maine has had PLAs on private construction projects, there has never been a PLA on a public works construction project in the state. This begs the questi on why are legislators banning PLAs. If private sector companies see fit to use this economic development model, why wouldn’t Maine keep this tool in its toolbox? An outright State ban on PLAs also violates Federal law. Our efforts to defeat this bill resulted in it being changed, but an amended version ultimately passed and became law.

LD 516 rolled back Maine’s child labor laws. These laws were designed to improve workplace safety for minors and to strike a balance between receiving a quality education and gaining valuable work experience. Rolling back such protections tips the scales and hurts our kids chances of succeeding. This bill would have eliminated restrictions on teen work hours, including repealing limits on how late teens can work. Aft er amendments, the final bill increased the number of hours teens can work from 20 to 24-hours per school week and from 4 to 6-hours on a school day. Another child labor bill, LD 1346, sponsored by Rep. David C. Burns (R - Whiting), would have established a sub-minimum wage of $5.25 per hour for workers under the age of 20 during their first 180 days of employment. LD 1346 was defeated without a roll call vote.

LD 447 would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $7.75 per hour starting on October 1, 2011, and to $8.00 per hour starting October 1, 2012. Increasing wages is a proven way to stimulate the economy by getting more money into the hands of the people who spend it. This bill failed in the House and Senate on a largely party line vote.

LD 1333 rolled back many of the health care consumer protections that Maine has enacted over the years. It allows insurance companies to charge higher rates based on age, geographic location, preexisting conditions, and occupation. Under this law, rates will increase for rural Mainers and it will undermine access to health care in rural parts of the state. The Maine AFL-CIO supports a universal, single-payer health care system – an expanded and improved Medicare for All where everyone’s in, nobody’s out. Unfortunately, LD 1333 moves Maine in the wrong direction. The Maine AFL-CIO did not testify on this bill, but we see it as harmful to working Mainers’ access to good, affordable health care.

LD 1268 was one of several bills this session which changed the Workers’ Compensation system in ways harmful to workers. This bill exposes injured workers to a potential yo-yo situation regarding the employee’s receipt of workers’ compensation benefits. It addresses scenarios where a worker has won an initial hearing, then has that ruling overturned by a hearing officer, and then the worker appeals to the Maine Supreme Court. Under the new law, an injured worker appealing a decision to the Court would be denied benefits for months or more than a year pending appeal and even if ultimately successful loses those benefits in the interim. This puts an injured worker in an impossible situation. The law should take into account the different positions of economic power between an injured worker and an employer. This bill was passed and signed into law.

This bill changed voting laws in many ways, but the most significant was that it eliminated Election Day Voter Registration. For the past 38 years, Mainers have been able to go to the polls and register to vote on Election Day. This is especially helpful for workers who work shifts, or multiple jobs, and can’t necessarily get extra time off to go to town hall and register. Although LD 1376 passed into law, a People’s Veto was initiated to restore Election Day voter registration. On Election Day 2011, the people of Maine overwhelmingly voted to preserve Election Day voter registration.

LD 412 banned the toxic chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, in children’s products. The Maine AFL-CIO has long supported finding safer alternatives to harmful chemicals because workers are the first to be exposed in the production process. The Legislature overwhelmingly approved the ban and set the precedent of replacing toxic chemicals before Maine workers and families are exposed. This bill became law without the Governor’s signature, making Maine the seventh state to ban BPA.

LD 1397 would have provided universal health care coverage for all Maine residents by creating a publicly funded single-payer health care system. We strongly support single-payer health care as the best way to provide quality, affordable health care for all. We did, however, disagree with the bill’s funding mechanism because it failed to place any taxes on employers and left the full responsibility of health care costs on workers. We look forward to seeing a new version of the bill in a future session.