2023 Legislative Victories: Mandatory Anti-Union Meeting Ban, Union Clean Energy Jobs & more

The combination of increased collective action, record levels of public support for unions and a lot of hard electoral work and lobbying has shifted the Legislature in a more pro-labor direction. During the past legislative session we passed a number of important new labor laws that will improve the lives of Maine workers and the climate for workers who want to form unions in Maine.

A new law (LD 1756) strengthens the freedom to organize by banning mandatory “captive audience” meetings where companies force workers to listen to anti-union talking points to coerce them into voting against forming unions. Under the new law, companies can still hold the meetings, but they can’t force workers to attend. Maine Med nurses (MSNA/NNU) and Shalom House workers testified at the public hearing for the bill about how their employers used captive audience meetings to intimidate and scare workers into voting against forming unions.

Our coalition of unions and environmental groups won a hard-fought battle to pass LD 1895, which will responsibly develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine — and the related port infrastructure — by protecting fisheries and mandating strong labor standards along with union-negotiated wages to ensure thousands of well-paying jobs for Maine workers. Thanks to the state’s strong pro-solar incentives, IBEW Locals 567 and 1253 have been accepting record numbers of first-year apprentices to meet the demand for more solar installations.

We also lobbied to pass a budget that raises state employee wages and strengthens retirement security for state retirees, makes childcare more affordable and accessible and establishes a new 12-week paid family medical leave program.

Our pro-labor legislative majority easily defeated the perennial Republican-sponsored “right-to-work for less" bills that would have criminalized union security agreements with employers that require all workers in a bargaining unit to share the cost of negotiating and defending the wages, benefits and working conditions they win in their contracts.

The Building Trades continued to make progress raising standards on registered apprenticeship programs, strengthen prevailing wages and more.

To see how your legislators voted on these bills and other labor priorities check out out our online Working Families Legislative Scorecard!