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Fighting Back

Andy O’Brien
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IN THIS EDITION:

  • Postal Workers Demand Action to Protect the Postal Service
  • Central Labor Council's Hold Labor Day Events Across Maine
  • Maine Fair Trade Campaign Annual Meeting
  • In Memory of Brother Wayne Poland
  • Maine Workers & the Women's Suffrage Movement

Postal Workers Demand Action to Protect the Postal Service

In a Zoom press conference Thursday, Maine Letter Carriers, Postal Workers and Mail Handlers called for four fixes to protect our democracy and the Postal Service. Postal workers also detailed the Trump administration’s efforts to sabotage and undermine the United States Postal Service and the harmful impacts that has had on Maine seniors, businesses and rural communities. The four demands made by postal workers today were:

  • Provide $25 billion in relief to the USPS to survive the COVID crisis. 
  • Stop all delays of mail immediately and permanently.
  • Protect our democracy and ensure the integrity of the vote by mail system.
  • End the pre-funding requirement, sponsored and championed by Senator Susan Collins, that requires the USPS to pre-fund retiree benefits 75 years into the future.

“Maine seniors, small businesses and our rural communities need the US Senate and Senator Collins to take action to support the US Postal Service amidst this crisis,” said Scott Adams, President of APWU 458. “We’ve moved past the time for talk and we need action to support Maine people.”

This coming Tuesday August 25, postal workers and other union members will take action across the country with one clear message - #SaveThePostOffice. You can join the day of action and show your support  by sharing stories and pictures demonstrating what the USPS means to you and post them on social media using the hashtags #SaveThePostOffice and #ProtectOurVote or share them with andy@maineaflcio.org

CLCs Hold Labor Day Events Across Maine

[caption caption="This Labor Day, Southern Maine Labor Council will be showing the film \"Pride,\" — based on the true story of a group of gay and lesbian activists in Britain who supported striking miners." align="center"][/caption]


Due the COVID-19 pandemic, Central Labor Councils have transformed this year’s Labor Day festivities to conform to social distancing guidelines. Below is a run-down of the events:

The Central Maine Labor Council will screen the Academy Award-winning labor classic Norma Rae at the Skowhegan Drive-in Theater, 201 Waterville Rd. in Skowhegan on Sunday, September 6th. Gates open at 7pm and the program starts at 8pm with speakers and a short film before the feature. Admission is free, but please RSVP in advance. 

The Southern Maine Labor Council will show the acclaimed film “Pride” on Monday, September 7, at the Saco Drive-In Theater, 969 Portland Road, Saco. Special guest Nine-to-Nine will perfom labor songs before the show. Suggested donation of
$10 per vehicle at the gate (cash only) but no one will be turned away. Gate opens at 6:30pm. Film starts around 7:30pm. Rain or Shine. 

The Eastern Maine Labor will hold its annual Labor Day Celebration on Zoom on Monday, Sept. 7 from 6-7pm. The event will feature speakers, union updates and program work for the fall, including information on EMLC’s political program and Solidarity Harvest. For more information contact: jack@gbaclc.org.

The Western Maine Labor Council will host a showing of the film “Roughing the Uppers” about the 1937 shoe strike in Lewiston on Zoom on  Tuesday, September 8 from 6-8pm. The film will be introduced by Maine labor historian Charlie Scontras, who will also participate in a discussion following the film. 

Maine Fair Trade Campaign Annual Meeting — Wed., August 26th

[caption caption="Congressman Golden addressing the Maine Fair Trade Campaign annual meeting in 2019." align="center"][/caption]


The Maine Fair Trade Campaign will be holding its annual meeting on Wednesday, August, 26 at 7pm on Zoom. The program will feature a panel discussion on trade policy with guests Congressman Jared Golden and Sharon Treat of the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree has also been invited. Please register here.

The Maine Fair Trade Campaign is a coalition of labor, environmental, human rights, family farm, and community groups working together to change the failed NAFTA free trade model and fighting for a new vision for trade policy and economic justice.

In Memory of Brother Wayne Poland

Our dear brother Wayne Poland passed away Saturday, August 15, peacefully at home after battling a long illness. Wayne became an IAM (International Association of Machinist) union member in his late teens and early 20's. Then, in 1967, he went to work for the US Postal Service, where he rose through the ranks to become the President of APWU 458 and later the Maine State APWU.

At the time of his retirement from the Postal Service in 2002, Gov. John Baldacci declared it to be "Wayne Poland Day" at the Maine State House.  Due to his dedication to the labor movement, the occasion of his retirement was entered into the congressional record in Washington, DC.  He was known by all as a voice of reason and for his hard work, level-headedness and dogged determination to better the lives of workers everywhere.

After retirement he served on Southern Maine Labor Council Executive Board, held positions on the Executive Board of the Maine State AFL-CIO and served as Secretary Treasurer of the SMLC until his passing. Wayne was known throughout his life as a fearless advocate for workers and someone who always fought for what he believed in. To express condolences or leave an online tribute to Wayne, please visit www.DolbyBlaisSegee.com

Remembering the Role of Maine Workers in the Women’s Suffrage Movement

[caption caption="Lewiston Evening Journal (6/9/1909) & Delegates to the 1886 Knights of Labor Convention." align="center"][/caption]


As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment this week, it’s important to remember the role of working people in the fight to gain women the right to vote. Throughout the mid-19th century Maine women textile workers led strikes to fight for dignity, fair treatment and better wages. Many of these young factory workers marched in Lewiston’s Independence Day in 1865, carrying a banner inscribed with “Freedom with all its antecedents” on one side and “July 4th 1865, Right of Suffrage to Every American Citizen” on the other. In 1869, working women in Auburn organized a local of the Daughters of St. Crispin, the first national women’s union in the U.S.

In the 1880s, Maine workers across the state formed locals of the Knights of Labor, a very progressive union that welcomed women and Black workers and supported equal pay and women’s suffrage. While the American Federation of Labor notoriously banned women from joining its ranks in the early years, the Maine State Federation of Labor, AFL advocated for women’s suffrage, unanimously endorsing a resolution supporting the right of women to vote at its convention in 1909. 

On the eve of World War I, the Maine AFL joined a coalition that included the Maine Equal Suffrage Association, the Maine Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Maine State Federation of Women’s Clubs, the State Grange and the Christian Civil League to push passage of the 19th Amendment. While this first effort failed, the Maine Legislature finally passed the amendment in the fall of 1919. For decades, women’s rights activists circulated petitions, organized lectures, leafleted, marched, protested, lobbied, and some even went to jail for the cause. And finally, on November 2, 1920, they voted.