AUGUSTA, Maine — A drawn-out battle between the LePage administration and one of the state’s biggest labor unions is headed to court.
The director of Maine’s Labor Relations Board this week denied a request from Gov. Paul LePage’s administration to dismiss a complaint filed by the Maine State Employees Association workers, Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union.
In a seven-page order, Mark Ayotte rejected all but one element of the union complaint, which was filed last fall.
However, Ayotte ultimately ruled that the LePage administration must stand trial before the board on charges that it negotiated in bad faith and interfered with the rights of MSEA workers.
“From the beginning, the LePage administration has been insisting that Maine’s public workers accept a laundry list of deep concessions,” said Scott Austin, vice president of the union and an environmental specialist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. “The administration has made no serious attempt to reach a negotiated agreement, as is required by Maine law. That’s why we went to the labor board late last year. We’re pleased that our complaint has been deemed sufficient to merit a trial.”
A press release from the governor’s office focused on the board’s rejection of most of the points made in the union’s complaint, including:
• That the state’s actions, even as alleged, did not meet the required elements of a case of unlawful discrimination.
• That the governor circumvented the bargaining process through legislation.
• That private statements allegedly made by LePage not in his official capacity as governor cannot be considered by the Maine Labor Relations Board.
• That allegations related to the hiring of a bargaining consultant must be stricken because the governor has the right to select his collective bargaining representatives.
A number of portions of the union’s complaint were dismissed, but allegations that the LePage administration failed to negotiate in good faith were deemed sufficient in merit for the labor board to hold a trial.
“I have concluded that the [union’s] complaint states claims upon which relief may be granted by the Board for [the LePage administration’s] violation of the duty to negotiate in good faith and a derivative unlawful interference, restraint or coercion charge,” Ayotte wrote in his order.
Julie Armstrong, counsel in the Office of Employee Relations, will represent the state at the labor board trial and said she expects to prove that the state bargained in good faith.
“This case appears to be an expression of MSEA’s frustration that the voters of Maine elected a governor who has given priority to restoring fiscal health to the State of Maine, a priority it appears MSEA may not share,” Armstrong said in a statement. “In furtherance of this goal, it is not only lawful but also appropriate for the governor to seek concessions from the union and take a tough position at the bargaining table.”
The MSEA union represents workers such as plow drivers, public health nurses, environmental protection workers and public safety workers. It first began negotiating with the LePage administration on a new collective bargaining agreement last April, but a deal still has not been struck.
LePage has not kept hidden his feelings about the employees association and unions in general. He has pledged to back right-to-work legislation that union officials have said would cripple them.
A formal complaint by the union was filed last fall, shortly after the LePage administration rejected the union’s latest contract proposal.
“We expected the governor to be tough, but we think he’s crossed the line. The law allows people to negotiate but it doesn’t allow for one party to go in with the intent of not reaching an agreement and for remaining bent on destroying the process,” union attorney Tim Belcher said last fall.
The governor’s office immediately responded by calling the complaint a 21-page press release filled with inaccuracies.
A date for the labor board trial was not set as of Thursday.
Is there any group with which LaPudge gets along with, and the tea party doesn’t count.
Give em he11 Paul!
Knock em to their knees.
actually that sounds like a little jealousy from some minimum wage burger flipper
Actually it’s a cry for help from an overburdened taxpayer.
And you?
i wonder how much in taxes are actually paid by these whining”over burdened” tax payers
and it still smacks of jealousy–get an education and a better job–new balance is hiring and they have great benefits but i’m sure you’d complain about that being unfair too
That minimum wage burger flipper is paying the salaries of these state union employees. Of course you have no respect for them or any of the rest of the taxpayers. We all have had to work with less for the last few years. You get no sympathy.
State employees also pay taxes so they are paying their own salary!!!
I am well aware that state employees pay taxes as I too am in a union household. The difference between you and me is that I don’t look down my nose at the rest of the citizens who pay me. I don’t think I’m better than they are, I don’t think I am more deserving than they are and I don’t think that when times are hard, I am entitled to be immune from the hard times by taking more and more form those Walmart or Marden’s workers. You need to get off your high entitled horse and see that you are bankrupting the state of Maine. Things have to change whether you like it or not.
Wow, judgemental or what considering you know nothing about me. I would never have guesed you live in a union household. Why don’t you stop believing you are superior to everyone else in the world because you also pay taxes. I earned my wages just like you do if you work!!!
Yeah right. I’m the judgemental one. The only things I know about you are what I have read here. You have made it very clear that you consider yourself to be better and more deserving than the rest of the taxpayers in Maine. Of course you wouldn’t have guessed that I live in a union household. I understand that cuts have to be made. I understand that I am not entitled to any more than any one else. I understand that the taxpayers only have so much to take. I also understand that the cuts being made now would not be so severe if any kind of prudence had been practiced by previous governors. I am not the only one who feels this way. The state employees have been used as chattel by both the state government and the unions for decades. No one said you don’t earn your wages. So does the Walmart employee who you look down your nose at.
You are sooooooooo wrong about me. I’m going to have my friends and family read your assessment of me so they can have a laugh today!!! Obviously you haven’t read much about me. Your other Teacup buddies call me a bleeding heart because I stand up for those who are stuggling and need a hand up. I wish you could have walked in my shoes and lived the struggle I’ve had. You sure would not even think the garbage you are saying. Then again people like you are incapable of feeling anything but hate.
Like I said, I only know about you what you have written here. You can call me whatever names you want. It certainly doesn’t change the opinion I have formed of you. You call me hateful yet you are the one name calling. You and so many others here are ridiculing and making fun of anyone who might not have it as good as you do. If you don’t like the person who you appear to be here then stop being so rotten to anyone who disagrees with you. You know nothing about the life I have had or the struggles I have had. Just because I don’t believe that I am more entitled than others doesn’t mean I haven’t struggled in life. So maybe I’m wrong about you. That’s not my fault. I guess I’ll wait to see what names and insults you want to throw at me next.
Give me one example of when I have put anyone down. No never mind. I could send you my life story and you’d still disagree with me. Whenever I write on any blog about welfare, I get dumped on because I care about those in need. Now you are dumping on me because you say I think I’m better than others. Can’t have it both ways. It’s the way I live my life that matters, certainly not your opinion of me. Have nice day!!
sorry, i dont work for the state, but the same goes for you, if you want a better job with benefits, get aneducation and find one
you complainers are just jealous you dont have a decent paying job
Trial. Jail. Bye bye PLeP!
He is keeping Maine in the lime light with all of his antics, he is such a baffoon!
Not a baffoon but a BABOON!!!!!!!
How dare you call him a baboon! That’s an insult to baboons everywhere!
Good one!!
Unions were once strong in this country, and life was good for average folk. Unions have been destroyed, and so has the middle class.
SEIU regularly holds pizza parties for its members (i.e., those that are mandatorily required to pay union dues). Life is still good for some.
What does that have to do with
MSEA?
MSEA-SEIU.
So do you think they should have had lobster? This is Maine we are talking about!
They shouldn’t have had anything. It is a hack organization that requires State workers (and State employees) to pay into it and uses that money to play. Public sector employees do not need union representation.
LePlague handed his daughter a cushy $40,000 job and all you have is tea party union rhetoric on your mind.
Ha Ha Ha Ha
Really? what would you do if you had a state job and worked with clients with mental health problems and a false accusation was made against you? believe me, people who work in Human Services need representation and protection.
As long as there’s not 10 a year you wouldn’t have a problem. Private sector people do it all the time. Maine state worker’s must be special.
Your employer provides that representation and protection. And you can also seek legal counsel. But neither of those use dues to fund pizza parties or publish lists of only Democrats to vote for or suggest that kids of retirees should be able to galavant around Europe after they graduate college and have somebody in the working class pick up the bill for her health insurance.
They get to vote for their boss.
Pizza Party? My, my that’s pretty high on the hog. Meanwhile LePlague handed his daughter a cushy $40,000 job. Nepotism trumps a little pizza party, hog-high!
The position was as an assistant to the Governor. If I recall correctly it was existing, not specifically created for her. If you have an important position it would make sense to hire someone whose talents you know and someone you can trust. The hire makes sense and is irrelevant. The concern is whether she is producing. Too bad that same concern isn’t applied to the pro-MSEA State employees.
What kind of talents do you have when you’ve only worked summer jobs at Mardens and government wasn’t even your major? Sounds like a make work job to me. Glorified clerk. Administrative Assistants in state government don’t start at over $40, 000. they don’t even top out at that after 7 years!!
No they certainly do not make that much money….. I have 1st hand knowledge of what an Administrative Assistant in state government makes after 7 years, (of which the last 4 with no merit increases/pay raises) you bring home under $20,000 per year. As I have been employed for 7 1/2 years for the state as an Administrative Assistant, I have 10+ years experience working in an office, I have gone to college, and oh yeah because of the “hiring freeze” I also have been forced to pick the job duties of someone who retired, so I do that of 2 in my positions for about $18,000/year. I am an asset to the office I work in, and I get nothing for the work I’ve done except for more work to do, most days it feels like abuse, but I am unable to leave as there are no jobs in the area I live in, and I’d rather work for next to nothing than not even have a job, but this is really getting to be a bit much, when the governor hires under experienced relatives to work in a position paying twice that of an employee of over 7 years of state employment it is sad to say he is a person people are supposed to look to and represent our beautiful state of Maine. Is this “The Way Life Should Be”?
You have my sympathy!!! I worked for state government for 31 years before I retires 5 years ago and I know where you are coming from.
I know several that make significantly more than that and it doesn’t include the +/- $13/hr in benefits. And why would LePage pick someone to be his assistant who does not like him and whom he cannot trust? Makes no sense. And again: show me where the poor performance from his daughter is.
Haw, haw, haw…..I find it it entertaining when you lepuke apologists toe the party line no matter how badly this manure pile of a governor stinks. You zealots would be cheering him on even if they were finding bodies in his basement.
We’d be cheering him on if we found bodies in his 1967 Delmont or Fort Marcy Park. OH wait, that would be the zealous Democrats. And it is “tow the line” not “toe the line.”
“If a man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is
a liar!” – Abraham Lincoln
“Don’t believe everything you read on the internet” – Abraham Lincoln
”Believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see” -Fenjamin Branklin
Just like Poor Paul LePage who thinks everyone in Maine should work at junk stores for public assistance wages. Except him, of course.
I don’t want to sound like a wise guy but are you really trying to say that because SEIU holds a pizza party that that in some way justifies the Governor of the State of Maine breaking both State and Federal Laws? That even by tea party standards is pretty weak.
I liked the article about a year and a half ago in the Maine Stater (MSEA-SEIU’s yellow rag) talking about the two retirees that were mad they couldn’t keep their 23 year old daughter on their healthcare while she spent the year traveling around Europe. It was back page or next to last page.
And that has what to do with LePage not bargaining in good faith. I thing it’s a great idea that those employees who don’t wish to be full union members, don’t get the benefits bargained for by the union. If that were true, I bet they’d join pretty fast. If you want the benefits, pay your fair share for negotiating them.
The point is there shouldn’t be a union for State employees at all. First they have a say in who becomes their boss (via elections). Second, which was part of what I was alluding to, is that MSEA is a branch of the Democratic Party, which already supports the unions goals. Again, check out the Maine Stater newspaper MSEA publishes. Especially during election time: I don’t believe the last two elections they supported a single Republican and maybe (bit maybe) only one Independent. This is for EVERY elected State office.
I see that you enjoy living in the past. Most of us live for today with an eye towards the future. Maybe, just maybe you will find having a pizza party is a lot more fun then wallowing in the past. It is apparent from your postings that you aren’t a fan of SEIU or MSEA but don’t let your dislike for those unions take over your life.
I’m pointing out how absurd the demands of MSEA are in relation to what the average working and tax paying Mainer faces. The pizza parties are present. The reference to the Maine Stater was so that anyone questioning the facts can look it up for themselves.
I also know former Maine School custodians who are trying to live on 600 a month.
Was he convicted of these laws you say he broke?
How can you prove it was not in good faith, If I were him I would walk into the room lay out what the state can afford and say “take it or leave it, and if you leave it, you are fired” State workers should not be unionized, it is time to get paid what the state can afford. The governor is a hero for holding the line.
What a fantastic idea. LePage walks into the room and lays out what the State can afford and says, “take it or leave it”. Now that is certainly bargaining in good faith isn’t it. Apparently you and LePage have a similar disrespect for existing law.
So do you think the state should fork over money it cannot afford? I would do it a little more tactfully, I would lay off as many people as it took to get the budget under control. Now go cry in your cheerios.
That is exactly my point, there should not be the ability to negotiate, unions for public workers are killing this country and bankrupting many if not all states. Post a job that needs to be filled offer a salary and benefits based on what the budget allows and let people apply, they know what it offers before they take it and if they don’t like the deal they do not have to apply. Unions don’t care about the people that are paying their peoples salaries just that they get the biggest piece of the pie they can without concern for the bigger picture. LePage is a hero to the average tax payer sick of getting taken by the unions and the Dems they had in their pockets for years in this state.
Listen to Rush much?
Yes, post the job for half the wage and no benefits. Then what happens when the state runs out of money again? Fire the person and re post the job at minimum wage? Instead of paying people to work and make a decent living you will be paying for them on unemployment and getting Maine Care. Either way us taxpayers will pay. Personally I’d rather they be working for a decent wage and living then getting it for free.
Your point??????
Usually it is done to get people to show up for meetings after working all day. The people who get pizza are paying dues.
Not related events. Unions were (notice i said were) a byproduct of a good economy not the cause of it.
Your upside down on this one Cheesecake. Unions have long been the champions of a living wage and access to affordable health care for all it’s members. When workers earn a living wage, they support the local economy. When workers work for public assistance wages, the stock holders and owners of the companies hoard billions and do not support the local economy. When I started working for a living in 1978 minimum wage was $4.50 and gas was .80 cents a gallon. My wage was roughly 5 times the cost of a gallon of gas. Gas has kept place with inflation just fine, it is the wages that are a mess and the chief cause of our economic problems. Private union membership is down to 7% in this country while the wages are stuck in the early 90’s. Coincidence? I doubt it.
Sorry voice, a good economy is a result of a strong business sector and a by product of that is a strong union sector. At least in the old days when there was a growing domestic market. Unions declined because they became a parasite on the system and played a role in driving business overseas, which by the way, is where the growing market is.
You pose a chicken -egg scenario in which a strong union sector appears first and creates a strong business sector. You need to think that through.
“Free” trade and a free shot at cheap labor drove businesses overseas Cheesecake, not people earning a living wage. When the middle class prospers, America prospers. When the super rich and the super poor prosper, the rest of us suffer. I lay a lot of the blame at the feet of Ronald Reagan and Gordon Gecko for starting the whole “greed is good thing”. Do you think that $4 a gallon heating oil would be breaking people’s backs if the wages had even remotely kept pace with inflation in the last 30 years?
Unions have this effect. In 1935 with passage of the Wagner Act union membership soared and wages for union members increased and out paced inflation. At the same time wages for non-union membership declined in response and overall (union & Non-union) wages were well below inflation until ww2. It could be said that this helped extend the depression .
I wonder what the result would be if we continued to expand our debt, public and private, if we do as you suggest and ban free trade, have an insular economy and protect unions from the realities of the world. How much would your money be worth in real terms then?
A good question Cheesecake. But I still maintain that the single biggest problem with our economy today is the complete failure of wages to keep pace with inflation. Union and non union. Like I said, I earned $4.50 an hour as a fire fighter and ambulance attendant in 1978 and gas was .80 cents a gallon. If wages had increased at the same pace as gas has increased, the minimum should be about $20 an hour, instead of $7.50. You do not need a degree in economics to understand where the problem lies. The trouble is, it is impossible for big corporate America to increase the wages of their labor to keep pace with inflation and hoard billions at the same time. It may sound a little socialistic, but I think a personal wealth cap of $1 billion would go a long way to putting our economy back on track. We need to find a way to put that money back in the hands of the middle class, the ones that actually support the local economy. If anyone tells you they need more than a billion for any reason, they have a monkey on their backs that is worse than a heroin addiction and they need help, period.
You sound as if you believe of money as a finite item and all that exists is in a wad of $20’s stacked in a safe somewhere. It isn’t. Most wealth is tied up in real estate or tied up in stocks on an electronic ticker. In fact most bank assets are exactly that, electronic promises to be made good at some future date payable to some other bank.
The problem is a little bit more complex than we need to raise wages to keep pace with inflation. That creates a whole new set of problems.
Take care and have good day.
the problem is, too many people believe the solution to the economy is the ability to pay coolie wages and no benefits to american workers
no middle class = no demand= no economy
Amateur economics.
it has to be so amateurs understand—-those New Balance jobs in norridgewock aren’t coming from tax cuts, they are coming from DEMAND,
no demand=no economy=no jobs
got it amateur?
Childish response reveals lack of real world experience.
you must be talking about your response –you don’t seem to have much of a grasp of simple economics
its simple– no demand =no production=no economy
i notice you didn’t comment on the fact that it wasn’t tax breaks creating the jobs–nice little sidestep
btw, i’m 60 and have more real world experience than you will have if you hit 90
Didn’t sidestep anything. There was no need. We weren’t talking taxes. We were talking unions and incomes keeping up with inflation.
Sometimes people develop maladies that take them off topic and they are easily distracted.
the fact that you realize you have a problem indicates you aren’t completely beyond help.
we were talking economy and the fact that you can’t seem to grasp the concept that with no demand, there is no economy and the fact that it was not tax cuts creating jobs, but demand, which drives the economy
untrue, corporate greed is why business moved overseas
Simplistic demagogic statement.
the truth hurts you that much?
Not at all, simplistic jingoistic viewpoints make me smile.
then you must grinning at everything you post
“Unions have been destroyed, and so has the middle class.” – The unions have declined because the industries that they fed off have all been driven into bankruptcy – Steel, Auto, Paper, etc. Now they are trying to do the same to government (aka taxpayers).
Union workers in all professions and all family members of all those professionals please take note and vote accordingly next November.
Do not mess with BIG LABOR in Maine – GOT IT!!
Yes, think of what you had before. Shutdown days, no step increases, no longevity pay, no COLA, etc What was the administration doing at the time? Passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy ( by the third year thanks to elimination of indexing the top 1% would have received tax cuts of $34 million while the other 99% recieved a tax increase of $3.5 million) that Governor Baldacci threatened to veto until he got skiing and golf exempt from sales tax. MSEA backed that bill. What did MSEA get from the Governor? They got a huge influx of union money by forcing all to pay into the union for the cost of the “contract”. Of course if everyone was now paying their “fairshare” of the contract they get to vote on that contract that they pay for and are affected by right? No, only those that contribute to their political activities get to vote on the contract. How did the union officers do for pay increases? It took Governor Lepage to eliminate shutdown days. Yes, take note and vote accordingly next Novermber. Shut down days could start again in January.
He did not eliminate shut down days. They expired with the contract and there has been no new one negotiated. That’s what the suit is all about!!!
There were no shutdown days in the contract. They were done through the budget with no negotiations. Governor Lepage did not include continuation of shutdown days in his 2011/2012 budget. Shutdown days elimination had nothing to do with the expiration of the contract.
Check again!!
Can’t admit you are wrong? The shutdown days and cuts to longevity were already in the 2009/2011 budgets when the union contract was finalized. The union refused to put anything in writing on the shutdown days because the Baldacci admin refused to negotiate. Shutdown days were implemented unilaterally by the admin & legislature and they could have been continued the same way but Lepage chose not to. I quickly found one link for you…www.UnionMaine.org go to the July 2009 archives.
So let me get this straight you’re a defender of conservatism yet you’re here suggesting that folks who have been asked to pay a small fee (“Fairshare”) to receive Union representation and Union negotiated benefits should receive all that for absolutely free. Hmm…I thought you folks were ALWAYS against “Other” people getting ANYTHING for FREE! Or is it for you all about harming Unions and middle class labor? Forget the question mark, I’m pretty sure I know the answer to that question.
I also really love how you end by going to the good old conservative standby play of threat and fear (Shut down days are coming back!). You seem to be forgetting, or purposely ignoring the fact that there are a whole lot of unionized workers and family members still left in this State who have never experienced a shut down day. Whether they have or not ALL unionized professionals, their family members, and anyone else that ever hopes to someday achieve a professional status that qualifies them for Union memberships and or benefits will stand together to send Poor Paul a very real message next November that even a deaf, dumb, and blind boy won’t be able to ignore.
As I pointed out what did the union members receive that you want them to go back to in November? Having the union supporting tax cuts for the wealthy while they get shutdown days, loss of longevity pay, no step increases, no COLA, etc? There are many job classifications in state government receiving a ‘stipend”. That is an amount over the listed pay grade because they can’t hire and retain people at the listed pay. That is negotiations and no union assistance was required.
“Fair share” members have the obligation to pay for their share of contract negotiations, I’m fine with that. If they are covered by the contract, they should pay a fair share…but they should also have the opportunity to VOTE on the contract they are paying to negotiate. They currently can’t. If the Union takes the money, they should allow everyone who pays to vote, otherwise it’s taxation without participation.
As for the Gov., he doesn’t negotiate, govern or lead, he just dictates. Congrats to the Union for calling him out!
If you want to vote, join the union, for heaven’s sake. Otherwise you’re simply demanding that you have all union benefits, while getting away with paying reduced dues.
The “fairshare” is to pay for the contract and administration. They would only be voting on the contract that they have to live with and pay for. They are not getting all union “benefits” just what they pay for. The biggest diffence between “fairshare” and union employee is paying for the union poliitcal activities. They want the employees to make political contributions in order to vote on a contract that supposedly covers no politcal activites.
The fair share also pays for union representation in grievence issues witht the employers.
Your point? That is calculated into the cost of “fairshare”.
Did the prior Governor negotiate, govern or lead? Were shutdown days etc negoiated with the union or just dictated to them through the budget process. Why didn’t they take him to court? Don’t forget that Baldacci refused sign to the Democrat’s “tax reform'” bill. Was it because it raised income on many of those who itemized such as those with high medical bills? No, he wanted to keep the golfers and skiiers from having to pay sales tax.
If you wish to vote and voice your opinion on union contracts, it is easy. Just join the union.
They already pay for the contract and it’s administration. Why should they have to pay for their political activities to vote on that contract when that is supposed to be separate from the political activity? Convenient isn’t it? Don’t have to deal with 23% of the people they are supposed to represent. Vote not allowed, opinions don’t have to be listened too but money from them received into their coffers. What did the employees receive from the political money that was spent on the Democrats? The got a “tax reform” bill supported by the union that by the third year gave tax cuts of $34 million to the top 1% while the remaining 99% received a tax increase of $3.5 million. The state employees? They got shutdown day, no step increases, loss of longevity pay, no COLA etc from their contributions to the union. The union? They got increased revenues from the forced “fairshare” and pay increases from that increased revenue.
Vote anything other than democrat. They no longer represent the working people of America. GO LEPAGE!!!
Yep…Go, LePage. Go far. Go fast. Please go!
all union workers not all proffessional I assure i work with them and they think they are special and can do no wrong.
There have been governors who have been Democratic, Republican and Independent, and they all have been able to reach a negotiated contract. Many times, it has taken a lot of time and effort on both parts, but they have succeeded. Why does LePage seem to be incapable of succeeding in negotiating a contract? It was before my time, however, I believe that Longley had a problem too, however, I believe they finally succeeded.
We did not get collective bargaining until Brennan.
Because he is incapable of negotiating, period.
The MSEA is only interested in further soaking the Maine taxpayer, by having a total compensation package that is well above market conditions. I applaud the Governor for finally standing up for the Maine taxpayer. If the MSEA members aren’t satisfied with their wages, then may I suggest they quit their jobs and go work for the “Dreaded Private Sector?” Go Gov. LePage!
Union members weren’t asking for more in wages during the negotiations, They were willing to have everything remain the same. In case you forget Lepage hired an attornery from New York and they would not sit down and negotiate.
As a worker in the Dreaded Private Sector, I too would have loved to have kept everything the same. The problem is we are in a new economy and nobody in the Dreaded Private Sector has their benefit package remain the same, so why do the MSEA members feel so entitled to being above those of us in the Dreaded Private Sector, especially when we are the taxpayers paying the salaries of the MSEA members? MSEA is working for the taxpayer, but for some reason, the MSEA believes the taxpayers work for them.
As far as the NY Lawyer is concerned, it’s about time we have a competent lawyer representing the taxpayer at the bargaining table. For all too long, the King/Baldacci regimes catered to every fanciful wish of the MSEA and the good State of ME is now bankrupt and there is no more money. Repeat, ME is BROKE!
Hello! Maine State workers DO NOT HAVE THE SAME BENEFIT PACKAGE. Maine State workers pay for their health benefits on a sliding scale based on salary for aleast 3 years now and the sliding scale has gone up in the last year and I expect it will go up again this year.
Do any State workers pay 50% or more of their health benefits? Many in the private sector do and it’s about time the MSEA members are brought back down to reality.
Maybe you are right, EVERY employer should model their health benefits to be exactly like Walmart.
You laugh at the Wal-Mart employees, but then expect them to pay for your much plusher benefit package. This is shameful and I am thankful that Governor LePage now represents the Wal-Mart workers, along with the rest of us in the dreaded private sector. MSEA members should not be treated any better than those of us in the dreaded private sector and I resent the MSEA’s hostility toward private sector workers and the Maine taxpayer. Go LePage!
”
Do any State workers pay 50% or more of their health benefits? Many in the private sector do and it’s about time the MSEA members are brought back down to reality. ”
Why don’t you back your flimsy argument and tell us just exactly what companies have health insurance plans where the workers have to pay 50% of the premiums???
IS IT UNUM?
IS IT LL BEAN?
IS IT NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR?
IS IT HANNAFORD?
IS IT NEW BALANCE?
WHICH COMPANIES BESIDES WALMART HAVE HEALTH PLANS WHERE THE EMPLOYEES PAY 50 % OF THE PREMIUMS?
Whooooa. “Governor LePage now represents the Wal-Mart workers…” Holy crap…what ARE they putting in your tea?
And you are playing directly into the hands of Governor LePage and the MHPC/ALEC/Tea Party. This exactly what they want. Pit worker against worker. Divide and conquor.
anytime you want to enjoy the benefits of being a MSEA member I suggest you work for DOT plowing snow. Long hours and dangerous conditions, being called out at all hours and holidays, including Xmas because it snows on holidays. or take a job working with the public where people may swear at you in a roomful of people. You could work somewhere that a supervisor tells you to say no to the client, then the client calls the supervisor and gets his own way after all. Try it before you are so quick to say how great the MSEA members have it.
The snow plowers in the private sector don’t work the same hours?
Oh they work the same hours, and in many case’s, far longer ones. What they don’t have are any job protection’s like a way to tell some nutso’ supervisor that what they want done is dangerous and making the point stick before someone goes home in a box ! What Paulie wants is a completely gutted labor force, preferably a 100% contracted out, that he can order around to stick their neck out while he sit’s back and doesn’t have to face the same risk’s. That’s not leadership. That’s cowardice, plain straight and simple. And in the face of a determined labor movement, what does Paulie do ? Does he sit down and talk ? No. He retreats to the court’s as a way to stall and hide. Problem is even his own Labor Relations people aren’t believing him anymore. Their declaration that LePage refuses to bargin in good faith is going to be seen by the Court’s as a serious indicator of just how far Lepage has gone, and is going to go, to keep this nonsense up.
I for one would suggest to Ms Armstrong that, professionally, she hitch up her knicker’s real tight, put a helmet on and cinch it down and add some serious whole body armor before she walks into court ‘ cause once the Court’s start seeing this, and how they are being played for sucker’s, the Court’s are going to go on a scalphunting or butt kicking tear on anyone that pushes this nonsense. Don’t be surprised when the Court’s start making sounds like ‘arbitration’ and ‘fact finding’ as a way to get to the bottom of this. Add to this is the fact that November is approaching and you can bet that the Court’s are going to be looking at the poll’s when they start making their decision’s. Paulie’s own people are now showing a severe case of the ‘shake’s’. Add the Court’s to the mix and it does not look good. Be smart Governor. Start talking to the MSEA before the Court’s seatbelt you down and don’t give you any choice. Once that happens, and you tell the Court’s to go screw themselves, you are guaranteed the effort to start an impeachement is going to go into overdrive. Refusing to comply with a State Court order goes way beyond any portion of the Governor’s authority. And that is just what any number of people are waiting for. Your move.
There are a lot of jobs that are dangerous, linemen on power and phone crews for a few examples and many are non-union. Play your fiddle somewhere else.
It’s too bad that it’s come down to union workers vs. non-union workers – all workers deserve the same protections.
And many workers do NOT pay 50% or more. Are you suggesting that our state become the slum-lord of employers here in the state? If that happens you can rest assured that the state employees that so many already complain about will become less competent and less motivated to do a good job, and we the taxpayers will pay all the price 10 times over.
How much do they pay into the retirement fund?
More than you pay into social security!!!
I’d be willing to bet that most CEO’s ,CFO’s, etc got the same or better package.
So if you are in the dreaded private sector, you are willing to take less in pay? Yet the prices of almost everything has gone up. You must think like Bush. Start two wars and cut your income at the same time.
If we weren’t willing to take a cut in pay and benefits, the alternative is to walk out the door. You have the same alternative. Gone are the days of annual raises and maintaining the status quo on health benefits for private sector workers and it’s about time it catches up with public employees as well.
MSEA is not working for the taxpayer. Their job is to represent the state employees.
And LePage’s job is to represent the Maine taxpayer and to run an efficient state government, something we have not seen under the King/Baldacci regimes.
You mean like the bang up job that he is doing at DHHS? That sure is a model of efficiency isn’t it.
Private sector workers have every right to band together and organize to enhance their situations. That they choose not to is not the fault of workers in other sectors. Have private sector workers seen their benefits decline because private employers truly couldn’t come up with them or because organizing to protect those benefits has been branded as somehow un-American and anti-individualist? A whale of a lot of “we’re-all-on-our-own and it’s-each-against-the-rest” propaganda has borne fruit. And this in a republic whose citizens trot out the “United We Stand” banner when they think they’re being had everywhere but the workplace apparently. For anti-worker propagandists, it’s taken four decades or more, but it’s worked, and we’re not a better people for it. Granted, the labor movement could have done much better to keep the light burning, but the cause of the decline wasn’t their’s alone to bear. I don’t know, but might our next national chapter be that of a chilly banana republic or worse?
Sorry mainemajority what you say about no one in the private sector having their benefit package remain the same just isn’t true. Our benefit package is the same today as it was 5 years ago and at no increase in cost or reduction of coverage to our employees.
And that attorney cost the state a bundle, about $1200/hr plus
Yes he is and the union will have to bargain with a “real ” labor negotiators instead of a bureaucratic state board with no skin in the game. Hang onto your butts.
Better yet, go away, LePlague. Take your hatred of the middle class back to Mardens and your Heritage Foundation backers!
Yes send him back as a bagger at Mardens and see what work is really like.
yep, $8.00 per hour and no benefits is good enough for us all. No need for new car dealers as we all should be making less. Mardens should be the main retailer in Maine. Who do these teachers think they are? Just because they went to college for 4 years to get a degree. Uppity snobs. Let’s fire the bunch of them and drag some of them bums off the welfare rolls to teach our kids how to manipualte the system.
We are dealing with impossibilities here. It is impossible to hoard billions and pay a living wage at the same time. Ask the Waltons of Arkansas. They are sitting on $93 billion while their average employee earns a whopping %13,600 a year, or about half the federal poverty level. The disgusting part is, they wear it like a badge and every other greedy s.o.b. in America worships the ground they walk on and wants to be just like them.
after someone has worked for the state for several yrs it is financial suicide to quit because they will be paying into Social Security at a new job but not be able to collect all of their Social Security because of a previously earned State pension.
If you work for “several years” for the state you don’t qualify for a pension. If you worked enough years to qualify for a state pension you don’t have to apply for it. You can withdraw your contribution from the state pension & take the full social security.
So wrong!!!!! Where in H___ are you getting your informtion?????
Federal Social Security and Maine state pension laws. Where are you getting your information? You can withdraw your state pension contribution anytime after you leave state service and before a pension is applied for. No state pension no reduction of social security due to state pension. If you don’t have a huge amount years in with the state it is something you should evaluate before you apply for the state pension.
A very large number of state employees are career employees and, therefore, state retirement is their only pension. Now not so true since LePage made state government a miserable place to work. Your theory is only correct is if someone does not become vested (work less than 5 years). Otherwise they would be stupid to cash out since they only get their portion paid in plus interest and forfeit any future benfits. If you work under both and your pension is small, you may be eligible for some SSA. If not, I worked all those years under SS to pay into your retirement because I’ll never get mine. Where are you getting your information. MHPC?
I own an accounting & tax business. I have taken many clients with both state and SS including those vested (more that 5 years) through an analysis. Even some vested in a state pension found it more advantagious to withdraw the money from the pension plan. Of course most were not close to retirement and did not intend to work for the state again. I have only seen one case where it was worth buying back the state time after being reemployed by the state. In my opinion the state should convert to social security plus supplement pension/savings similar to what the federal goverment did for their employees in 1984. It would be beneficial to state employees as they would not be tied to the job because of a pension.
Who pays the MSEA?? Oh yeah, each and every state employee pays union dues from each and every pay check whether they become a union member or not. And by the way the union was not asking for merit increases/pay raises to be put back into the contract, the union was keep it all the same, asking for nothing more. Believe me if there were jobs out there many would have left their positions as state employees, but there are very few jobs right now.
LaPages unwillingness to come to an agreement is going to hurt in the long run, I’m pretty sure LaPage hates Mainers. Pretty sad, he is against the very employees, state of Maine Employees who work for the state is supposed to be the Govenor to.
The union is astounded that someone is actually looking out for the taxpayers for a change.
You seem to believe that state workers get a free pass on taxes?
No the free ride is on GoMaine vans.
Nope. Just pointing out that the unions are used to “negotiating” with the Dem’s hand picked representatives who are more interested in buying votes with tax money than they are in negotiating to get the public’s business done for the best possible price.
Union members are tax payers also.
You sound like the school teacher who says they’d gladly pay an extra 10% in taxes ($250) to get a 5% raise ($2,500).
Nope, I’m just a tax payer who want’s the best teachers money can buy teaching the children of Maine.
And pi$$ed.
LePage accepts full pay, full benefits, full everything. Trying to say he wants the budget to work in this state is stupidity. He takes full advantage of every dime he can squeeze out for himself while he caters to the dying tea party stooges and belly flops for the camera every chance he gets. We have had governors willingly give up pay when the state was in trouble – something this egotist with mythomania would never do (right along with skipping a meal.)!
Le Plague is a failure as a governor. Get this clown out of office as soon as possible.
As I have repeatedly requested–please don’t denigrate clowns!
Every politician does that. Maybe it’s time they took a cut also.
Governor Baldacci gave up pay? Did he participate in shutdown days? All I saw was a concern that golfers and skiiers might pay sales tax.
Do you take advantage of every dime you can get?
“In good faith” seems to be the key phrase here and there can be no doubt that the phrase is not in our governor’s toolbox.
How hard will be to quote him saying he will never compromise ?
There is proof of bad faith.
His idea of “good faith” is “kiss my butt.” The man’s a total and complete failure.
The Penguin administration’s primary achievement thus far has been it’s ability to waste money fighting about things in court. Leadership is often about compromise. This guy needs to get over himself if he’s going to accomplish anything meaningful (and so far, he’s not even close).
LePage is a bully and it trying to administer his power from his office the same as a DICTATOR would… He should be booted and go back to being a clerk at a discount store…
What place do people will not or can not compromise have at the table , Govenah ?
Here are results.
LePage simply hates unions and the middle class. He is a tool of out of state special interests.
Hey BDN, the headline should read “Six of Seven Complaints Dismissed Against Governor.” The only complaint left to stand will be impossible to prove, but the public unions will have their day in court. FDR, the darling of all Progressives, was vehemently opposed to public employee unions. Go figure.
That ain’t to hard to fiquere!
He was a Republican!
“There you go again” (to quote a Reagan line) ! Why can’t Conservatives ever tell the truth? Do they not know what the truth is ?…..Anyway here is a quote of what FDR said about public unions !!! He was never “vehemently opposed” to public employee unions as you stated !!! What you stated is nothing more than the “favorite tool” of the Conservative…..the use of “Revisionist History” ! Shame Shame Shame !
“The desire of Government employees for fair and adequate pay, reasonable hours of work, safe and suitable working conditions, development of opportunities for advancement, facilities for fair and impartial consideration and review of grievances, and other objectives of a proper employee relations policy, is basically no different from that of employees in private industry. Organization on their part to present their views on such matters is both natural and logical, but meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the Government. [. . .]
Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. Upon employees in the Federal service rests the obligation to serve the whole people, whose interests and welfare require orderliness and continuity in the conduct of Government activities. This obligation is paramount. Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the Government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable. It is, therefore, with a feeling of gratification that I have noted in the constitution of the National Federation of Federal Employees the provision that “under no circumstances shall this Federation engage in or support strikes against the United States Government.” FDR
Hmmm, having worked at a State institution for the mentally ill, a few decades past, I remember staff striking and leaving the patients with no care. The National Guard was called in to provide care! Guess they didn’t get the MEMO.
What Year? What State? What Institution? Which Public Employee Union ? I am sure that everyone participating in this forum would like to know ! Can you tell us ?
Quote of the Day: FDR on Public Sector Unions
Hmmmmmm:Roosevelt’s reign certainly was the bright dawn of modern unionism. The legal and administrative paths that led to 35% of the nation’s workforce eventually unionizing by a mid-1950s peak were laid by Roosevelt. But only for the private sector. Roosevelt openly opposed bargaining rights for government unions. “The process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service,” Roosevelt wrote in 1937 to the National Federation of Federal Employees. Yes, public workers may demand fair treatment, wrote Roosevelt. But, he wrote, “I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place” in the public sector. “A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government.”
Everything you stated is true except “But only for the private sector” and “Roosevelt openly opposed bargaining rights for government unions”. Neither are true statements. Those statements are nothing more than another case of conservative revisionist history. Roosevelt was opposed only to the right of a government union to strike .
I read the letter and it states pretty clear that he thought the unions had no place in the public sector. So we can disagree.
We disagree.
LePage has adopted policies that tramples of workers’ rights.
I think the Governor is forgetting that though he might be the Executive in the state government he cannot run the state like a company. He must be able to negotiate. That he hasn’t figured this out by now is not a good sign.
He hired a lawyer to do real negotiations.
I do believe that the Governor is in Violation of his oath of office as well as the constitution and labor laws.
In signing and adhereing to the Grover Norquist Tax Pledge,{ along with several other legislatures,} he has violated Article ( 9) Section (9) of the Maine State Constitution.
By signing and adhereing to this pledge he has Hampered and Handicapped any labor negotiations by refusal to consider Taxes as a viable means of the labor dispute.
I believe that a reasonable judge could conclude,
{You cant negotiate in good faith when you have tyed you hands to an idiology prior to the negotiations. }
AMEN!
Blah,Blah,Blah.
Are you Blah ? Try some vitamin D !
Where in the constitution does it state that workers ‘”public or private” have the right to a union or that a employer has to recognize said union? Just wondering?
It’s called state and federal labor relation law.
Governor Paul LePage is a Great Man and Libs Still Want to Borrow themselves out of Debt. Won’t happen on his watch… and I’m happy about it…
The U.S. national debt was always very low prior to FDR’s election as President. The Democratic party’s answer to every economic problem since FDR has been to spend your way to prosperity. That solution can’t possibly work ad infinitum. Sooner or later we’re going to end up like Greece.
No sympathy for the union suckers here.
By the way, you lefties are pretty good at calling people names.
Does the ACLU prosecute defamation of character suits?
I don’t think the lefties can hold a candle to the right when it comes to name calling. IE. Rushbo, Glenbo, Billbo.Breibartbo (dead),Coulterbo,Savagebo, etc…………………………………………………!
Remember Keith Obozo? How about Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson Lee? Bill Maher? Sean Penn? Al Franken? Barney Frank? etc……………. Now thems some winners that can hold a candle.
Thank You ! You just proved my point. None of the people you named could begin to hold a candle to the crap that is spread by the “standard bearers” of the conservative right wing media !
Most that Harry named are Politicians. Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Peloiski need more. It depends what side of the fence your on.
I am not on either side of the “fence” ! I am sick of extremism from both sides. That being said… I will state my opinion again ! The left can’t hold a candle to the right when it comes to the current vileness used by today’s partisan media. What makes it even worse is the fact that the Conservatives try to pass themselves off as being morally superior. Their words do not bear that out.
love that you first claim to be morally superior and then accuse the right of feeling the same way. that’s just perfect.
I stated that I was on neither side of the fence my friend ! I did not claim to be morally superior. Maybe you just need a new pair of reading glasses ? Or perhaps you would be better served by gaining some comprehension of the english language.
I find this article about the governor and the unions very interesting. I am moving back to Maine after living in Michigan for almost 20 years. The unions in this area, automotive, public and others are absolutely pathetic. The contracts here are so full of great pay and benefits (even with the recent give backs by some of the unions) it’s ridiculous. When you compare them to the private sector they aren’t even close. As I see it the negotiators on both sides of the table over the past 30-40 years have kicked the can down the road and now the wages, benefits and especially the pensions of retired workers are so underfunded they want us the taxpayer to fund it. Unfortunately it will be our children and grand children who will be footing the bill unless people like Governor LePage stands up to the unions and puts them on par with wages and benefits of the private sector.
The auto industry is part of the private sector.
I think we still own quite a bit of G M.
I can see how putting Union pensions more in line with the private sector could help, but how will cutting Union wages help our economy, our children, or our grand children ? Do you think that during a weak economy we should take income away from the middle class ? Doesn’t a healthy middle class with expendable income drive the economy ? What sacrifices are the wealthy (1%) going to make ? After 11 years of tax cuts for the wealthy and no new jobs, do you really think that we should cut Union wages so we can continue to subsidize the wealthy just as the Conservative elitists insist ?
We could align wages pretty easy by just not giving a cola for a few years and instead just giving that same percentage as a ‘bonus’. Maine has had a job problem for a long time and I don’t see it turning around in the near future. Is taxing the wealthy going to create jobs?……No…. Will it increase the coffers of the State…….Yes…….. Does the Government create jobs…..No……..Does the Government gives public employees wage and benefits increases…,,Yes…….No jobs Welfare will grow till coffers are empty….Now where back to taxing the wealthy again………Wealthy get tired of high taxes and move to Florida next door to the Governor house. Then people like me move to Maine to retire because it’s crowded there and don’t pay that much in taxes because I’m retired.
Well…when he was elected, many of us TRIED to tell people not to vote for this failure of a governor. You get what you pay for. Next time if it walks like a car salesman and quacks like a car salesman….it most likely IS a car salesman.
i’ve been a car salesman. what’s wrong with that?
What “intitlement” do you recieve???
LePage does not think that any rules apply to him or his administration. He will find out that there is one rule he will have to abide by……..the “rule of the people” in November 2014
A fortune cookie I opened this noon said “Good management is doing things right. Good leadership is doing the right things.” The penguin an abysmal failure on both counts.
Governor Paul LePage is doing the right thing for all of Maine’s People. Not just a selected few in the unions…
I think you mixed up what the right thing means.. with babying certain groups to buy their votes. A friend of mine has a 15K deductable per year on each of his and his wife’s health insurance policy… let them try that…
What “right thing” is he doing for the poor and elderly???? I guess they and union people aren’t Maine’s people??? Are we New Hampshire’s or Canada”s????
Now Squirrel y that’s just a fortune cookie.
November 2012 will be an omen of 2014.
I don’t pay %50 but I do pay quite a lot for my health insurance. Work (not taxpayers for those anti postal) pays a lot also. Yet I still end up with 1,000’s paid out of pocket yearly. Deductible alone is almost a grand, then add in co pays, etc. Maybe it’s time people take a look at why health care cost so much that most can’t afford it? Instead people sit around saying so and so shouldn’t have that because others don’t. Maybe, just maybe, we could all afford health insurance if in fact it was affordable!
“The process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.” ~ FDR, 1937
OK…one more instance where our Gov has proven he is pro business and the hell with the employee…
The reason we have a minimum wage and workers rights are because of unions. If unions didnt exist, we would turn into a third world country because workers wouldn’t have any say at all. The government is run by people connected to big business, how do you think they are running things?
and just who runs the unions? Unions = The great democrat party money laundering scheme.
So the gov wants more money to run his temporary little empire but if he holds down the pay and benefits of middle class so they pay the min in tax…Hey Dummy…the more people make the more they pay in taxes…
Then the more people not working need money to live so your money feeds the welfare of these. Wait He cut taxes remember to try to stimulate the economy to increase jobs so your tax dollars go for what they were intended for.
The Wall Street Journal featured LePage today. It states he has delivered more than rhetoric. In fact 47 percent of Mainers approved of him up from 31percent in the spring. Is he able to please everybody? No, of course not, but he sure is pleasing many. A right to work state works very well and no one loses except the union management. So let’s not waste our time and money on such frivolous law suits. Keep doing what you are doing, Governor ,and our state may start to see some light.
Luckily for LePage, he has the improving US. Economy helping out his approval numbers. However as far as Maine’s economic recovery goes his policies have still left us (with the exception of Rhode Island) far behind the rest of the New England States. Remember that the Wall Street Journal is owned by Ruppert Murdoch ! (Fox News)
you believe Obama when he says it’s an improving economy??? Stock market does nothing for the economy except create inflation.
I don’t believe Obama, I go by the statistics. Unemployment down from 10.6 to 8.2. Housing starts up 10% from a year ago. Housing prices up for first time in five years. GM posting record yearly profits for 2011. US. manufacturing posting its biggest one-month jump since December 2006. Consumer spending at four year high. Wages up 2.8%. These are all leading economic indicators that Fox News fails to report on.
Wow 8.2 unemployment….GM still owes us money their stock is in the dump…..just shut down Chevy Volt….National debit 16 trillion…. foreclosure still high……$500,000 wasted on solar panels… Gasoline going to $5 a gallon….
I guess I don’t buy into the “Doom and Gloom” as much as you do. There does seem to be a lot of “Doom and Gloom” talk these days, but it is all coming from one side of the political fence. I wonder if it’s not just “wishful thinking” ? Hmm.
Could you explain to me how the Stock Market is increasing inflation. The US. inflation rate hasn’t fluctuated much for the past twelve years, and the Fed is keeping the discount rate at .75% I didn’t realize we were having a problem with inflation. Are we ?
It’s coming the Fed can’t keep printing money deflates the value of the dollar. Now gas prices going up so deliver of food and farming will increase in price. A wind turbine and a solar panel isn’t going to move the freight on the roads or rails and ships. Hang on to ya butt it’s coming.
I guess that I don’t buy into the “Doom and Gloom” quite as much as you do.
“Stock market does nothing for the economy except create inflation.”. Nonsense!
And the employees who get to work for less!!! That’s what “right to work” means. Asks anyone who works in a “right to work” state.
I did 35 years and had better pay and benefits than our union counterparts.
Sounds like you are very fortunate and in the minority.
Here is an interesting idea:For the private sector workers who complain that state employees have great pay and benefits, than apply for a state job.
I think you have to be faimily or friends with someone in charge.. They sure don’t hire the smartest people.
Mainers should pledge that never again will anyone be elected to anything in Maine who does not get the majority of the vote….That means 50% of the vote plus one….No more of these 38% elections…We need instant runoff so that these minority candidate like LePage don’t get elected.
How far back do you want to go with that one? People keep bringing it up like it is relevant.
John Baldacci got elected twice with under 40% of the vote, once with only 34% of the vote..
Who was the majority candidate?
I just got a 200 dollar a month health insurance increase and I don’t get to ride it a GoMaine van either. Maybe it’s time the State worker’s gave a little for the cause.
I find that most of the rhetoric used by both sides are out of line and out of touch. Yes as someone who works for a municipality I do have concerns of pay and my job. But on the other hand the state is strapped for cash and the working class is growing tired of being an atm. There has to be a middle ground. After all if the states goes bankrupt, it would be hard to pay paychecks or benefits.
Paul LePage + Koch Bros. = no unions.
Unions= criminal activity
Those who work for government have ridden the gravy train for many years, but a train wreck is ahead.
For those who do not read, or those who read but do not comprehend, this state has more entitlement money promised in the future, including state worker retirement pensions, than can be sustained with the bleak economic future we face. Use of simple arithmetic in adding up all the future promises, will readily show one that these promises cannot, and will not, be kept. DHHS is eating us alive and the legislature keeps right on doing business as usual, nothing that would fix these grave problems.
If I were a state worker I would cash out and find another job before it is too late. I can promise that, with the fiscal track we are on, the reckless and out of control government spending, and the increasing devaluing of the American dollar because they are printing them like crazy in DC, is bringing disaster upon us. There will be some long faces I bet when the retirement checks will not be able to be paid.
That gravy train won’t look so good then!
It’s coming fast too.
It is just so blatently obvious this paper is nothing but a rump swab for anything the D’s love
There is no saving these people. Every country with long standing Unions have crippled their countries.. Open your eyes!!! The Unions Greed will consume itself… Common sense would go a long ways to protecting unions..
All those of you who think LePage is bad for wantign to pay these people less remember they are paid with OUR TAXES!! They work for US. Why are there so many folks working for the state in pointless union jobs but there are never enough people working at the DMV or enough money for the Schools the FD or the local PD’s!! FIRE every useless gov worker. We could fire fully 50 percent of the states employees and there would be no reduction in actual work done.
Sigh.
*SIGH* I see the LePlague worshipers are out in force for this story. Well, they must admire Adolph Hitler and Nazism too. Read on, as I prove that point….
Hitler began suppressing the trade unions (along with Communists and Social Democrats) in Feb of 1933 as part of his rise to power. They would attack and ransack offices, steal equipment, beat up and imprison members (usually those in leadership roles).
In May 1933 the trade unions began to distance themselves from the Social Democrats to preserve themselves as an entity but on May 2nd the brownshirts and SS men occupied every trade union office affiliated with the Social Democrats, took control of the newspapers and periodicals of the trade unions and seized their banks.
Trade union officials in leadership roles were either sent to concentration camps or killed outright.
The Nazi’s effectively destroyed any power the trade unions had and subjugated it for their own purpose.
The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans
And does Evans mention in his book that Adolph Hitler kept a framed photo of Henry Ford on the credenza in his office, too? It’s always good to remember history, but even though Germany had a Reichstag when Hitler was rising to power, they never had a three-branched system of government with a division of powers. Our system minimizes the chances of a dictator usurping powers that’re not specifically permitted in the State’s Constitution.
as a forced fair share payer to a waste of a union afscme the employees should be thankfull for what they have. Afscme is to busy spending thousands of dollars on saving employees who should be fired.The state spends thousands of dollars in allowing the union reps to leave work to spend on union business. Why should I pay fair share to support the democratic party? thats not right.
You should be happy to pay a portion of the fees that members pay simply because the union is required to spend a lot of time and money on your behalf and you get the benefit of that in the contract you have, the salary and benefits you receive, your working conditions, the representation you are assured if you have a legitimate grievance and the fact that, unless your employer is a buddy of yours, your personal well-being is irrelevant to him.
It’s not personal. It’s just business.
Unions created the Middle Class.
Mr LePage is doing the right thing, if you question his actions, just look at how much the head MSEA folks are getting paid, MSEA has always looked out for them selves, the worker that pays the dues get nothing.
Mr LePage is doing the right thing, those who questions his action, just check on what the head MSEA folks are making for wages, MSEA is not interested in helping out State workers, MSEA is interested in filling their pockets and than moving on.
It’s Tea politics, plain and simple. These dopes don’t even realize that in this Koch led battle to protect the billionaires, they are vaporizing their own hopes and dreams.
We need to look at the whole picture here. Corporations who feel they are not getting a fair deal in the laws band together to form trade organizations to look after their interests. This doesn’t appear to raise anyone’s ire. On the other hand, workers are completely on their own unless they belong to a union. A union is to a “real” person, what a trade organization is to a corporation, a lobbyist who makes sure the worker is not taken advantage of.
It is not in the best interests of the MSEA to drive the state into insolvency. That should be obvious, yet many readers here seem to think they don’t care about that. This is absurd. The state employees have permitted many roll backs on benefits and pensions in recent years. They have families and have invested their lives in their careers like any of us do. They seek to make sure they are not the political pawns of a governor who wants to gain populist points by cutting them out. Can you blame them? These are not faceless bureaucrats, they are your neighbors!
Notice, the anti-union crowd relies on rhetoric about “thuggery” and excessive benefits. Once you start to look at the real numbers and facts, these do not hold up. These are powerful arguments in the abstract and they seem enough to create considerable public anger towards their public servants.
This governor believes only the corporations should be able to organize. Workers should not. If you want to hold a corporations accountable, forget about it. If you want to exploit workers, though, that is another story. This is perfectly acceptable.
The MeGOP theme is Working People Vote Republican. To the extent this is true, they clearly are cutting their own throats. Governor LePage is out to make sure that only elite owners of companies are protected under the law. The rest of us are on our own. That sounds good if you are a libertarian, in theory. IN reality, if you need to feed a family, the real impact of the policies will take away any real autonomy you might think you have. How free are you really when you do not earn enough to cover the basics? Since LePage only gets to negotiate with State workers, he wants to set the example that workers do not matter. He does this very effectively.
The reality is; we the people of Maine need to start our own campaign to have Governor LePage impeached. He has done so much damage to our state and we cannot afford to allow him in the Blaine house any longer. Everyone needs to get on the phone to our elected officials, write letters, protest in front of his office and get this viper out of office. We need to stop allowing him to continue on the destructive path that is destroying the State of Maine, our schools and the hard working people. He has no leadership abilities! His only knowledge is how to bully, lie and devastate. State workers are the people that make our surroundings easier. They are the investigators, drug agents, officers etc. that walk into the violence, blood, death and gore that we don’t want to see. They see horror shows before their eyes every day in and day out. I want that protection and I want to know our state compensates them well, along with the many other positions. Unions are in place to make sure people are not treated like the slaves that LePage wants everyone under his thumb to be. He wants to send everyone back to the stone age. One needs to stand against poor treatment in the work place, unions do just that. It is a much bigger picture here and it has nothing to do with soaking the taxpayer. I hope that everyone will stand-up and help rid our state of this man that acts like a locust out to devour all that is good.
Recall LePage !!!
I can’t remember a Gov. from Maine being such a busy body as this current one. They sweep under the carpet The Millions that again is the Dems fault at Human Services. You would think that with all the masters degrees floating around in his various dept Heads, that some one somehow could see if they actually took a look, that the cut off lines were skewed. Duh! But that’s OK. Anything this Gov. touches turns into a massive court case with high priced lawyers from away. The old story of a bull in a china closet perfectly describes the happenings in Argusta Today and everyday. Was Marden’s also run by the seat of your pants style that he uses so well. Does Maine see a need for a LT Gov, maybe some of the stress could be shared. Maine needs Help not Deep Division! Just ask Sen. Snowe. Not much being done positive at the Nat level either. We need some Real leaders who know how to share good ideas across party lines and then do what is best for everybody, not just the few!
I can’t remember a Gov. from Maine being such a busy body as this current one. They sweep under the carpet The Millions that again is the Dems fault at Human Services. You would think that with all the masters degrees floating around in his various dept Heads, that some one somehow could see if they actually took a look, that the cut off lines were skewed. Duh! But that’s OK. Anything this Gov. touches turns into a massive court case with high priced lawyers from away. The old story of a bull in a china closet perfectly describes the happenings in Argusta Today and everyday. Was Marden’s also run by the seat of your pants style that he uses so well. Does Maine see a need for a LT Gov, maybe some of the stress could be shared. Maine needs Help not Deep Division! Just ask Sen. Snowe. Not much being done positive at the Nat level either. We need some Real leaders who know how to share good ideas across party lines and then do what is best for everybody, not just the few!