Lawmakers back off contentious labor union bill
By Kevin Miller, BDN Staff

Posted June 06, 2011

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/06/politics/lawmakers-back-off-contentious-labor-union-bill/?ref=mostReadBox

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Republican leaders agreed Monday to
shelve for the year a contentious labor bill that riled
Maine's unions and heightened tensions with Democrats
in the final days of the legislative session.

Members of a legislative committee voted to postpone
action on a controversial "right-to-work" bill, LD 309,
that could have stripped public sector unions of their
ability to collect service fees from state employees
who opt out of joining the union.

The vote came four days after hundreds of union members
crowded the halls of the State House to protest the
bill and less than two weeks after GOP leaders
surprised many by reviving a controversial measure that
many assumed was dead for the year.

Republican leaders on the Labor, Commerce, Research and
Economic Development Committee said it was evident,
following Thursday's public hearing, that there was
considerable confusion about the bill, which they
attributed to several versions of the measure.

But they also acknowledged the deep concern the
legislation caused among both lawmakers and labor
advocates in the closing days of the 2011 session.

"I think it is going to provide us an opportunity to be
appropriately thoughtful and cautious before we take
any action," committee co-chairman Sen. Chris Rector,
R-Thomaston, said about the decision to resume
discussions of LD 309 next year.

Union representatives, meanwhile, offered a different
reading for why the GOP majority was backing away from
a bill strongly supported by the administration of
Republican Gov. Paul LePage.

"I think what we've seen here today is Republicans and
Gov. LePage recognize they didn't have the votes to
support this bill," said Chris Quint, executive
director of the Maine State Employees Association, the
largest union for state employees.

The legislation would have ended the practice known as
"fair share" in which the state deducts "service fees"
from state employees who opt out of joining one of the
unions. The bill would only have applied to state
employees and public sector unions.

To read the rest of the article:

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/06/politics/lawmakers-back-off-contentious-labor-union-bill/

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