Archives for Maine Peoples Alliance

Maine Currents 2/1/17

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Studio Engineer/Segment Producer: John Greenman

President Trump’s actions in his first days in office have been met with protests around the world and right here in Maine- and they show no signs of letting up. Today on “Maine Currents” we’re going to look at the community response to Trump’s executive orders and cabinet nominees. We have a clip from the protest at Bangor International Airport over the weekend, we talk to some of the organizers of local events and then open the phone lines.

Guests:
Lisa Pohlmann, Executive Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), nrcm.org
Susan Dickson-Smith, Founder/Organizer, Eastern Maine for Racial Justice (EMeRJ), facebook.com/emerjmaine , emerjblog.wordpress.com/
Sam Salvadore Portera, Bangor Area Organizer, Maine People’s Alliance, mainepeoplesalliance.org
Karen Marysdaughter, Co-Coordinator, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, peacectr.org
Matt Murphy, WERU General Manager, weru.org

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RadioActive 2/23/12

Issue: Environmental and Social Justice
Host: Meredith DeFrancesco
Studio Engineer: Meredith DeFrancesco

Broadcast Time:4-4:30PM

Program Topic: Maine House Approves bill removing unionizing rights for egg farm workers

Key Discussion Points:

a) On Tuesday, the Maine House passed LD 1207 “An Act to Amend the Labor Laws Relating to Certain Agricultural Employees”. This bill seeks to overturn legislation passed in 1997 to allow for egg workers in facilities with more than 100 workers and 500,000 laying hens the right to unionize. This, and a bill passed in 1975 to allow the same set of workers the right to a minimum wage standard and overtime, both aimed to temper the egregious working conditions at the Decoster egg farms in Turner.

b) Federally, the National Labor Relations Act excludes agricultural workers from the rights to a minimum wage standard, overtime or the right to collective bargaining . It is up to individual states to grant these rights. At least 9 states now allow some form of collective bargaining for agricultural workers.

c).Decoster is now leasing it’s Maine factories to Moark, LLC, a subsidiary of Land O’ Lakes. The Maine Senate is expected to vote on LD 1207 as soon as next week. There is a lack of support for the bill, however, from both Democrats and Republicans.

Guests:
A ) Ben Chin, Maine Peoples Alliance, www.mainepeoplesalliance.org
B) Representative Jeffrey Timberlake, Maine State of Representatives, www.maine.gov/ legis
C) Matt Schlobaum, maine AFL-CIO, www.maineaflcio.org

Call In Program: No