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Poll results

Sponsored by: OTELCO

Workers at the Portland Museum of Art last week voted to unionize, after the first labor organizing attempt in the museum's 139-year history.

Nurses were due to finish voting Tuesday in a union election at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

And at the the national level, President Joe Biden has been friendly to union organizing efforts, as the national income disparity increasingly becomes a talking point.

Yet changes like these come against the backdrop of Amazon workers in Alabama strongly voting against the formation of a union, dealing both a symbolic and real blow to organized labor.

(This poll has been adapted from one published by the Worcester Business Journal, a sister publication of Mainebiz.)

Will the power of unions increase in the near future?
Yes, in Maine. (3%, 6 VOTES)
Yes, both locally and nationally. (38%, 88 VOTES)
No, unions will simply hold onto the power they have. (32%, 73 VOTES)
No, unions will weaken. (27%, 62 VOTES)
Poll Description

Sponsored by: OTELCO

Workers at the Portland Museum of Art last week voted to unionize, after the first labor organizing attempt in the museum's 139-year history.

Nurses were due to finish voting Tuesday in a union election at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

And at the the national level, President Joe Biden has been friendly to union organizing efforts, as the national income disparity increasingly becomes a talking point.

Yet changes like these come against the backdrop of Amazon workers in Alabama strongly voting against the formation of a union, dealing both a symbolic and real blow to organized labor.

(This poll has been adapted from one published by the Worcester Business Journal, a sister publication of Mainebiz.)

  • 229 Votes
  • 5 Comments
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5 Comments

  • Michelle Wingate
    April 29, 2021

    "Unions built the middle class." President Joe Biden on April 28, 2021
    Senator Angus King is also a co-sponsor of PRO Act S.420 giving workers the right to organize.

  • Jeffrey Payson
    April 28, 2021

    Stop thinking like it's 1950; if we, as employers, do not treat our workers well and allow them a seat at the table, they will consider the union option.

  • April 28, 2021

    When we cannot find employees to fill our open positions, businesses are offering very competitive wages. Employers are doing everything they can to treat their employees well. If more unions come into play, it will be another hit to businesses trying to do the right thing. With increasing regulations and higher taxes, most business owners wonder if it is even worth it to chase the American dream anymore.

  • April 27, 2021

    In our current age, I feel like the only winners in a union setting are the union bosses and organizers. Workers pay dues and some people get wealthy. It seems like workers could still organize and strike even if they are not a union, if they feel they are not being treated fairly, so why pay dues to someone else? I want to negotiate my own pay and benefits, not have someone in a union make a deal for me. And I totally disagree with being forced to join a union if I work at a certain job or employer. It should be my decision.

  • April 26, 2021
    The challenge is that unions are still promising what they have rarely delivered. While they focus on pay, they have dome little about their raison d'etre - to improve working conditions. I fail to see how a union at the museum of art is going to improve working conditions. It's not like the museum has a pot of profits to tap into, and there not a wait list of people anxious to be part of the art community who are willing to tolerate minimal wages in exchange for the insider privileges. The situation at the hospitals is similar except that MaineHealth seems to have the money - but there is this shortage of workers that isn't going to go away. In fact it may just be that ongoing shortages may reduce the available services. Working conditions aren't going to improve during a time of labor shortages.