Author: Levesque Loni

Five of our members participated in the MEA’s Higher Education Lobby Day at the State House in Augusta. Below is a little write up about why one of our members participated and how the event went for her.

On Tuesday, March 5th, I participated in MEA’s Higher Education Lobby Day at the State House in Augusta with fellow ACSUM members Tim Pinkham, Lisa Feldman, Gail Wartell, and Cheryl Spencer. I was fortunate to be able to talk with my representative, Robert Nutting and my senator, Roger Katz. Both listened respectfully to my concerns about the impact of flat funding by the state of Maine and the further impact of the federal government’s reductions in student worker funding. I know many campuses rely heavily on their student workers to provide services to students and the public. Those services will be severely curtailed if the state legislature cuts our funding.

I felt it was important for me to put a face on the result of possible funding cuts for the UM System, even for the senators and representatives with whom we did not have the opportunity to speak. Because of our ACSUM and MEA buttons, they were very aware that we were in attendance.

Members have asked why annual membership dues for those working full-time rose from $308 last year to $322.50 this year.  The increase includes a $10 emergency assessment from each member.  The assessment was approved by delegates to the Representative Assembly of ACSUM’s nationwide affiliate, the National Education Association.

Funds raised through this emergency assessment will be used to aid locals in states where the rights of union members are under attack.  Maine is one of those states.

The latest attack on Maine labor rights was a bill proposed for the next session of the Legislature by State Senator Ron Collins (R-York County).  It would have made payroll deductions for union dues illegal.  Thanks to hard work on the part of the Maine Education Association and other labor unions, legislative leadership decided not to bring the bill forward.  It is dead for now.

Other pieces of anti-union legislation still show signs of life.  One would limit collective bargaining rights of state workers; another would attack Worker’s Comp insurance; and, Governor LePage recently attacked Unemployment Insurance (or as he says, paying people not to work).

We hope that rank-and-file members agree with Dina Goodwin-Short, ACSUM’s elected delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly, that the $10 emergency assessment was a necessary expense.