IN THIS EDITION:
- MSNA Members Honor Fallen Nurses & Call on Senator Collins to Save Lives
- Maine Planned Parenthood Workers Vote to Form a Union
- IBEW 567 & 490 Keeping Busy Installing Clean Energy Projects
- Local S6 Stands Strong in Talks with BIW
- Maine APRI Leader Speaks About Workers' Rights & Racial Justice at Teletown Hall
MSNA Members Honor Fallen Nurses & Call on Senator Collins to Save Lives
[caption caption="MSNA members hold action & press conference in Bangor Wednesday." align="center"]
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Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney joined members of the Maine State Nurses Association, NNU on Wednesday in Bangor to honor the more than 160 nurses who have died from COVID-19 in the US and call on Senator Susan Collins to support nurses, patients and our economy by passing the Heroes Act. National Nurses United estimates that at least 1,289 health care professionals have died of the coronavirus, including 169 nurses.
The HEROES Act would protect health care workers and other essential employees by ensuring domestic production of PPE through the Defense Production Act and mandate that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration establish an emergency temporary standard on infectious diseases. It also appropriates funding to extend unemployment benefits, provides hazard pay for frontline workers, supports the Postal Service and shores up state and local budgets to keep our emergency responders, teachers and public employees serving our communities.
“While Senator Angus King has been very supportive of the HEROES Act, Senator Collins has so far refused to voice support for this critical stimulus package and has actually called for reducing funding for some of these important initiatives," said Cynthia Phinney. "At a time when coronavirus cases continue to surge and the nation experiences its worst unemployment rates since 1941, it is crucial that Senator Collins and her Republican colleagues act immediately to protect the health, safety and economic security of all Americans."
Maine Planned Parenthood Workers Vote to Form a Union
Workers at Planned Parenthood in Maine have overwhelmingly voted to form a union with the Maine Service Employees Association, SEIU Local 1989. Planned Parenthood workers said they came together to form their union in order to advocate effectively for their patients, volunteers and communities, and to gain a voice in their wages, benefits and working conditions.
“We recognize that, no matter their level of integrity or compassion, management cannot impartially advocate for workers. We therefore see a need for a union to be a dedicated voice for workers at PPNNE,” the union wrote in a statement. “We are at the front lines of the organization, providing healthcare, mobilizing volunteers, and connecting with our communities. The care and stamina we bring to the work depends directly on our workplace context. In order to continue this work over the long term, we need to have a secure, impartial voice on the issues that matter to us, including our wages, work conditions and safety.”
IBEW 567 & 490 Building Maine's Clean Energy Economy
[caption caption="IBEW members at the Sanford solar project site." align="center"]
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Electrical workers with IBEW Locals 567 and 490 have been busy this summer working on several renewable energy projects, including the installation of 179,000 solar panels in Sanford.
“There is so much solar coming up it’s unbelievable," said IBEW 567 labor rep Jim Valente. "There’s a 100 megawatts up in Loring, 75 megawatts in Farmington, 150 megawatts in Moscow, 20 megawatts in Fairfield, 20 megawatts in Clinton, 50 megawatts in Sanford and other solar projects in Buxton and in Baldwin. And they’ve all got to be done by this December!”
One key question is whether these upcoming projects will be good jobs done by Maine workers. The Maine AFL-CIO and other unions are working hard to see this work go union. Clean energy is key to tackling climate change and reducing carbon emissions and we need these to be good union jobs done by Maine workers.
After years of attacks on solar energy during the LePage administration, last year Governor Janet Mills signed a number of laws that have stimulated major investments in solar energy in order to meet ambitious carbon reduction goals. The Maine AFL-CIO and numerous unions are currently working with Cornell University’s Worker Institute on a project to develop the labor movement's vision to tackle climate change and inequality in Maine together by addressing energy, transporation and infrastructure in ways that create good union jobs that pay living wages with benefits. Stay tuned for more from us on this.
Local S6 Standing Strong in Talks with BIW
[caption caption="Members of the Southern Maine Labor Council supporting Local S6." align="center"]
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As the strike at Bath Iron Works grinds through its seventh week, Machinists Local S6 announced Thursday that it is making modest progress on several items of contention between shipbuilders and the company. The negotiating team said that it has reached tentative agreements on eight articles, including one of the union's "main issues." It credited the federal mediator with helping the union and management find common ground after talks reported broke down Wednesday.
"This is an incredibly frustrating, challenging, and emotional process. We recognize the future of over 4,400 of our brothers and sisters is in the balance," the negotiating team wrote in a statement. "Our committee is dedicated to a resolution that benefits all. United We’re One. Divided We’re Done."
Public support for the strike continues to grow. Last week, a coalition of Maine environmental organizations — including the BlueGreen Alliance, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Health Strategy Center, Maine Conservation Voters, Maine People’s Alliance, Natural Resources Council of Maine, and Sierra Club Maine — issued a strong statement in support of Local S6, pointing out that “a fair economy and a clean environment must go hand in hand.”
Maine APRI Leader Speaks About Workers' Rights & Racial Justice at Teletown Hall
[caption caption="Maine APRI Leader Garrett Stewart" align="right"]
On Wednesday Maine A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) leader Garrett Stewart (right), who is also a member of Machinists Local S6 and the Maine AFL-CIO Executive Board, was a featured speaker in a tele-town hall titled “Uncovering and Addressing Racial Disparities in Maine.” Speakers at the event discussed the root causes of racial disparities in healthcare, housing, unemployment as well as how to combat systemic racism. Stewart noted that Covid has disproportionately impacted people of color in Maine as many of them work in frontline jobs. He said he had recently spoken with Hannaford grocery workers about their working conditions.
“They’re still required to work long hours. They are still required to wear masks behind partitioned glass, but they cut their hazard pay. We are greatly concerned about this.” said Stewart. “They’re tired, frustrated and scared. Hannaford management recently met with their employees about their concerns, but they basically don’t care. It’s basically, ‘get back to work.’”
Stewart said he had also made attempts to reach out to migrant blueberry workers in Downeast Maine where there have been widespread outbreaks of the virus in the blueberry industry.