Lawmakers table union bill
A legislative committee has voted to table a controversial bill that would have freed nonunion state employees from paying union fees.
Members of the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee on Monday voted to postpone action on LD 309 until the next legislative session, according to the Bangor Daily News. Currently, public employees are not required to join a union, but must pay fees to the union to cover the cost of contract negotiations and labor disputes. Under LD 309, payment of those fees would be made voluntary. Last week, hundreds of union members protested the measure at the State House, arguing that employees who benefit from union negotiations should be required to pay fees to cover those negotiations.
In voting to push the bill back to the next session, committee members cited confusion about the bill and the need to address labor advocates' concerns. The House and Senate must still consider the committee's recommendation. A similar measure, LD 788, which would have ended a provision that requires private-sector workers who do not join a union to pay dues, was postponed indefinitely.
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