Late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning Governor Janet Mills vetoed two core labor bills about workers’ ability to collectively bargain for a better life. LD 1177 would have provided an equitable dispute resolution system by making arbitration binding on wages, retirement and healthcare in the public sector. LD 240 would have given teachers the simple right to bargain over preparation and planning periods. This comes on top of the Governor’s pledge that she would have vetoed a public sector right to strike bill, LD 900, had it reached her desk (it was carried over).
We are living in an era of runaway inequality. That inequality degrades people’s work, cuts years off people’s lives and corrodes our democracy. It’s even more acute for workers of color, women, young folks, immigrants, queer workers and others. Workers in every corner of this economy need more bargaining power. Period. Wages as a percentage of GDP are at record low levels, while corporate profits as a percentage of GDP are at all time highs. There is no way to undo rampant structural inequality without workers winning more bargaining power.
The labor movement put forward three proposals to build workers’ power and modestly rewrite the rules of a rigged economy. We contended that we need to make some structural improvements for workers providing critical public services that help our communities, our families and our kids thrive. We offered to amend these proposals in countless reasonable ways. Yet, each was met with opposition from the Governor – two by veto, one by pledge.
Lots of workers told their stories and made a compelling case. And lots of legislators heard them and backed us up. I want to thank the many legislators – leaders, rank and file legislators, committee members, first term electeds – who supported us. You did your jobs. You stood on the side of justice. I hope folks will take a minute to thank the majority of legislators who stood with us and recognize their efforts.
It’s a moment to pause, to “live the questions themselves” and think about the path forward. My initial takeaway is that we need to build a stronger movement to win structural changes. Working people have always had to exercise our rights – to organize, to strike, to be treated as citizens and not property in the workplace – to win our rights. Its no different now. We need to build strike ready unions. We need to organize more deeply in workplaces and the politics will follow. We need to build a broader, bigger vision and welcome people in.
There is, of course, an important role for nuance in all of this. We’ve accomplished a number of good things this legislative session. The Governor has signed many of them. Those changes are meaningful and will materially improve people’s lives. But on the more fundamental, modest structural changes we sought we fell short. That feels deeply disappointing and disturbing. And we should be clear-eyed, thoughtful and strategic about it.
Daily Updates