On Thursday night outside of Merrill Auditorium, audience members lining up for Chelsea Handler’s show were met with picketers spanning the street. Instead of being in the auditorium preparing for the show, the unionized stagehands were locked...
On Monday afternoon, November 8, shoppers at the Back Cove Portland Hannaford looked on as a crowd of more than 200 people gathered across the lot. Busses rolled in and a coalition of Vermont farmworkers got off, waving signs and carrying...
In the deep South, an election took place, fraught with every slick tactic imaginable to keep African Americans from voting. Poll boxes were closely surveilled. Predominantly Black employees leaving work were steered away from organizers holding...
It’s Labor Day yet again, and while many of us will spend it grilling, visiting family, or meeting up with friends, many of us aren’t familiar with the hard and arduous road it took to achieve this day of respite for workers. And, even fewer of us...
The following was originally published by Marc Normandin on June 30th, 2021 via his Patreon Newsletter. It is reprinted here with permission from the author. Sea Dogs fans, pay attention. When Advocates for Minor Leaguers formed back in early 2020,...
On July 6, the Maine Supreme Court ruled that People First Portland’s measure to mandate hazard pay for workings during a declared emergency was constitutional. However, the Court sided with the City of Portland in ruling that the provision does...
The Maine Service Employees Association, SEIU Local 1989, represents over 13,000 workers, including workers in all three branches of Maine State Government. Pine and Roses here reprints MSEA's Open Letter to Gov. Janet Mills with the union's...
Have you noticed all the “Help Wanted” signs? Businesses limiting their hours or offerings, or closing altogether, because they are short-staffed? Service workers who are more stressed out than usual? I recently got an oil change at a place with...
For the members of Maine Service Employee Association, SEIU local 1989, one of Maine’s largest unions representing more than 12,000 of the state's employees, the issue is simple: Respect Us, Protect Us, Pay Us. Pine and Roses' M. Trey Cox, Mike...