January 9th, 2019
Letter to the editor: Maine lags its neighbors in offering paid sick leave
As someone who has gone without paid sick days at work, I understand how imperative it is that the state set a minimum standard for paid sick leave. Maine is one of only two states in New England that don’t require their employers to provide paid sick days. It is a shame how far behind we are on…
Read MoreFebruary 7th, 2022
Portland to consider reinstating hazard pay for workers
The Portland City Council will discuss bringing back hazard pay on Monday. That would effectively raise the minimum wage for workers in the city. Hazard pay only took effect for a few days at the beginning of the new year but ended with the city’s state of emergency. The new amendment up for debate Monday night…
Read MoreFebruary 4th, 2022
Pandemic calls for us to rethink impossible expectations of teachers
The role of the teacher in this crisis environment has been impossibly expansive: All at once, a teacher may have to serve as a student’s content expert, surrogate parent, social worker, mentor and tech support professional. Before vaccines were available, teachers were at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. Yet teachers continued to assume…
Read MoreFebruary 1st, 2022
Workers hold rally to call on Portland to reinstate hazard pay
Portland City Councilors are being asked to reinstate hazard pay for minimum wage workers. The hazard pay ended last month when the council terminated the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency. In 2020, Portland voters approved a new minimum wage that included a hazard pay provision for essential workers during a state of emergency.
Read MoreFebruary 1st, 2022
Portland council will consider whether to restore hazard pay for workers
The Portland City Council will consider whether to bring back emergency hazard pay for workers while the city’s mask mandate remains in effect. “It’s not a perfect solution. It’s not a permanent solution,” said Councilor Victoria Pelletier, who is sponsoring a hazard pay amendment to the mask ordinance. “But it’s at least something so that…
Read MoreJanuary 12th, 2022
USM center will build on historian’s legacy by strengthening labor education
Nine pizza workers recently walked out of a Portland pizza shop because of onerous working conditions; Bull Moose is planning to sell its stores to its employees in an ESOP, and Bates College has filed with the National Labor Relations Board to interfere in an attempt by workers to unionize. These were all stories in the Portland Press Herald on…
Read MoreMarch 5, 2020
Folks rally at the State House for lawmakers to support expanded dental care
A few dozen folks rallied at the State House Thursday advocating for a bill that would give more Mainers access to dental care. It would allow people who make under $17,000 a year to get basic dental prevention and treatment. The only Medicaid dental benefit for adults in Maine is limited emergency care. Supporters say…
Read MoreMarch 5, 2020
Sharing stories of pain and stigma, low-income Mainers call on lawmakers to pass dental bill
Dozens of working-class Mainers rallied at the State House on Thursday to demand their legislators vote to support a bill to guarantee comprehensive dental coverage for low-income adults through MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program. LD 1955 is the second attempt to secure dental coverage for low-income adults after a similar bill, LD 1453, passed both the state House…
Read MoreJanuary 27, 2020
Dental care improves lives
On Jan. 23, I flashed my toothiest smile at Gov. Janet Mills. As a member of the Southern Maine Workers Center, I rallied with coalition partners at the State House to support LD 1955. If passed, LD 1955 will expand MaineCare to include comprehensive dental care for adults. Access to dental care is essential to good health. People who do…
Read MoreJanuary 9th, 2019
NOW- Paid sick days in Portland
The comittee of health and human services will vote on an ordinance that makes sick pay for all in portland a reality.
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