New name, but same initials, for Maine's second-largest union
Maine’s second-largest labor union is changing its name, but the letters it goes by are staying the same.
The 12,000-member Maine State Employees Association is now known as the Maine Service Employees Association, the union said in a news release Friday.
The new identity reflects the growing breadth of the group’s members, who no longer consist only of state personnel. “We’ve grown into a union representing a whole range of workers providing services via 20 different employers,” said MSEA President Dean Staffieri.
The union, founded in 1943, now includes a range of public sector employees, including ones for the Maine Community College System, the Maine Turnpike Authority and several municipalities. MSEA has also presented workers in the nonprofit sector, such as staff of the American Red Cross in Bangor. In June, employees of Preble Street, a nonprofit social service agency based in Portland, voted to organize and join the union.
Elected delegates to the MSEA’s annual meeting in November voted to make the name change.
“Our new name reflects every worker, active and retired, we represent,” said Staffieri. “Even with the name change, we’re still MSEA.”
The Augusta-based group retains its affiliation with the Service Employees International Union and continues to operate as Local 1989 of the SEIU.
The Maine Education Association is the state’s largest labor union, representing about 23,000 educators and other personnel.
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