Labor

Nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent and at Houlton Regional Hospital are bargaining for their first union contract since voting to join the Maine State Nurses Association in January 2024.

Unemployment also continues to undershoot the state’s 5.4% long-term average since 1976, when Gerald Ford was president and the film "All the President’s Men” was released in cinemas.

Clean-energy projects over the past two years have created good-paying jobs, said union reps. Developers are pausing project starts as Congress debates federal investment.

The Maine Department of Labor has found Northern Maine Medical Center liable for a host of regulatory violations, resulting in fines and wage restitution to nurses.

Staff at the Starbucks cafe on Waterville Commons Drive have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize, calling for a “voice on the job.” 

The new contract gives all full-time museum employees a minimum salary of $50,000.

While Maine’s three cargo ports — in Portland, Eastport and Searsport — are not immediately affected, some economists warn of turbulence ahead if the labor dispute continues for long.

The goal is to prepare women for quality careers in the union trades earning good wages and excellent benefits.

Thousands of state workers will receive the payments, beginning next month. A third-party study of the state's pay classification system, however, won't be finished until the end of next year.

Ferry cancellations are disrupting life on Maine’s unbridged islands. Challenges to hiring and retaining crew include rates of pay and meeting licensing requirements. But DOT said it's addressing the situation.