Scorecard, Convention, Nurses Vigil & More!
IN THIS EDITION:
- The 2019 Maine AFL-CIO Legislative Scorecard has arrived!
- Ellsworth Nurses & Techs Fight for a Fair Contract
- Maine AFL-CIO 32nd Biennial Convention Coming up!
- Central Maine Labor Council Meetings Have Moved
- Bowdoin Housekeepers Speak Out for Fair Wages
The 2019 Working Families Legislative Scorecard is in the Mail!
Ever wonder how your local legislator is voting on important state legislation like collective bargaining rights, prevailing wages, tax fairness and earned paid time off? Check out the 2019 Working Families Legislative Scorecard! We listed all of our labor priority bills along with the roll call votes of Senate and House members in an easy-to-read format so you can hold your local legislators accountable. We sent the scorecard out earlier this week and it should be arriving in your mailbox any day now!
Ellsworth Nurses & Techs Fight for Patient Safety & a Fair Contract
Nurses and technicians at Northern Lights Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth are fighting for safe patient care in their current contract negotiations and could use some community support. The Maine State Nurses Association/NNU members say that in order to better protect their patients they need safe staffing in the emergency department, 24-hour security personnel to protect patients and staff and fair compensation to improve recruitment and retention.
Please join the nurses and techs and show your support at their Vigil for Patient Safety and a Fair Contract on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 5 pm in S.K. Whiting Park at 216 Main Street in Ellsworth. Those who can’t make it are encouraged to call NL President John Ronan at 207-664-5608 and encourage him to listen to his employees, stand up for patients and settle contracts with ALL the members of the Maine State Nurses Association at NL Hospital!
Maine AFL-CIO Biennial Convention — Oct. 24-25th
In just two weeks Maine AFL-CIO will be holding our 32nd Biennial Convention in Bangor on Thursday, October 24th and Friday, October 25th. We have an exciting program planned with excellent speakers, educational organizing workshops and, of course, elections for Board members & officers. Please make sure your union is represented as we will be charting the course of the labor movement for the next two years! Let us know if your union needs any info.
Central Maine Labor Council Meetings Have Moved to Winslow!
Attention union members in Kennebec, Somerset, Knox, and Lincoln counties! The Central Maine Labor Council, AFL-CIO has officially moved its meetings from Augusta to the USW 449 Hall on 577 Benton Road in Winslow (next door to Big G’s!). Meetings are on the second Thursday of every month from 6pm to 7:30pm. Dinner is served at 5:30pm. Central Labor Councils are a great way to connect with other union members and to find out what’s going on in the labor movement in your region.
Bowdoin Housekeepers Speak Out for Fair Wages
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For years, housekeepers at Bowdoin College have suffered due to low wages and oppressive working conditions. But now they are speaking up about their mistreatment with an op-ed calling on the administration to pay them fairly and improve their working conditions. The housekeepers describe a hostile, divisive work environment where they must perform physically demanding work, including handling lice and bed bug infestations without proper training or equipment. They complain of not being reimbursed for work-related mileage and being forced to take on more duties and forego vacations due to understaffing.
“I am sick and tired of the bosses saying to us, ‘you chose to be a housekeeper,’” the letter states. “To me that is so disrespectful. I fell in love and had my own family. I put my family over finishing college. But I am proud to be a housekeeper and feel it’s rewarding. Bowdoin should respect us housekeepers and dining and facilities staff as much as they do everyone else that makes this college run. We are just as important."
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