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• Anonymous

  Why is unemployment so high in “right to work” states?  No, you have not been persuasive on this point at all.  Gov Lynch and others in New Hampshire voted the right way.

• kcjonez

  “A right-to-work law doesn’t attack unions, it simply gives workers the opportunity to join a union or refrain from doing so”  says republican political strategist Gagnon.  

  Wrong, so called “right to work” laws are designed, written, funded by and foisted upon an unsuspecting populace by the plutocrats at faux heritage and faux chamber groups for the single simple purpose of weakening unions.  Why, because unions represent the working man and support the party that might, just maybe return our country to fiscal sanity and make it more difficult for these treasonous billionaires to extract even more wealth from our starving economy.  Rather than bringing us more freedoms as Mr. Gagnon posits, they want to bring us less freedom, less freedom to work for a fair wage, less freedom for a little security in our lives, less freedom to work on our terms or on the bosses terms.  Sorry Matthew, no sale.  

  ——————

  “But Maine has a Republican House, Republican Senate and a Republican governor, and this likely represents the best chance Maine has to pass such a bill. If they don’t push for it now, it will likely never get passed.”

  You got that right Matthew.  Maine elected these folks to bring us jobs and so far all they appear to be doing is feathering their own nests.  It will likely never get passed because the citizens of Maine don’t want it to pass and will never be so foolish again as to hand the keys to the henhouse over to the party of the fox again.

• Anonymous

  Why can’t we be more like Texas with their higher unemployment rate, less insured, and higher poverty rate?  Why do you liberals insist we have a first world standard of living?  No company wants to hire workers who they can’t exploit.

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  I love the argument that says that giving choice to workers means weakening unions.  It is an implicit argument that admits that unions can’t survive free choice by workers.

  I mean, you do realize what you are saying, right?  Essentially your argument boils down to, “if we give people the choice about whether to join a union or not to join a union, it will weaken unions because people won’t want to be in one”.

  That is a very weak case to make.  Unions should be able to survive free choice by workers.  If they don’t, than they aren’t offering anything workers care about, now are they?  Sounds to me like unions need to work harder on justifying their own existence rather than using the law to artificially prop up their membership.

• kcjonez

  History justifies the existence of unions.  Before the people joined together to work for their common good against the Robber Barons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, working conditions, safety measures and wages were deplorable.  Many good souls died in service to their greed and many more died fighting for the right to bargain collectively with them.  Through the strength of unions we built the largest and strongest middle class in the history of the world.  I, personally, have never belonged to a union but I support their existence and find the current attack on them and dissolution of our vaunted middle class to be no mere coincidence.  I understand that your job is to  sell the republican agenda, but as I stated earlier–no sale.  I think the majority of Maine citizens believe the same as I do.  If your party wishes to ram their agenda down our throats instead of being our representatives, they do it at their own peril.  We will not make the same mistake again. We will elect a governor whose agenda is to serve his constituents and replace the artistic depiction of our history in its rightful place on the walls of the Labor Department.  
  Were you perchance the offended party that emailed Mr. LePage asking for its removal?

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  And those unions were built by the free choice of those who formed them and joined together, often times against both the government and the corporations they sought to protect themselves from.  They weren’t built by sweetheart deals cooked up between politicians and union leaders to increase the power of both at the expense of free choice.

  If union membership was so necessary and important, you couldn’t STOP people from joining a union.  But the fact is that we aren’t living in the 19th or 20th centuries anymore, and the mobility of the American worker all by itself has removed much of the necessity of unionization.  The economy has dramatically changed, it is far more diverse, disparate, and complex.

  Workers often let their feet do their negotiating.  I myself have tripled my salary in the last three years and have double the vacation time, and I didn’t need a union to extort my employer to do it – I changed jobs and sold my services to competing companies/organizations, which raised the price of my labor.

  Folks like yourself cling to the memory of what unions used to be.  Yes, they still serve a purpose, yes they are still important, and yes, they were instrumental in the formation of the middle class.  But today they have in many ways outlived their usefulness because of the changing world around us, and artificially propping up their power just because of the romantic memories of what unions used to be is a bad idea.

  In the end, it comes down to one thing:  right-to-work gives workers choice to join or not to join a union.  If that is what you are so afraid of, than you have just proven that unions have outlived their usefulness.  If you need to use compulsion to keep them viable, than they really don’t need to be around, because people don’t want to voluntarily join them.   That should tell you something, since workers used to be willing to face off with guns and lose their entire livelihood to form them illegally.

  And no, I’m not paid to write the Republican line.  You obviously don’t read me much, because I write just as much critical to the GOP as I do supportive of their agenda.  I’m part of the libertarian wing of the party, so you will often hear me criticizing them.

• Anonymous

  Oh , yes, that is just what we would want to aspire to!!

• Anonymous

  You could get people to stop joining unions by getting paid political shills to attack and denigrate them.  As a libertarian, you should be all about the Unions, a group of people who get together to control their product (in the form of labor).  I’ll make you a deal, I will support right to work laws when you support and get the Republicans to pass laws enabling all employees the right to strike (which is a power most Unions in this state do not have).  Until then, you are just a corporatist and a Republican shill.  If you believe people should be free you need to apply that right in all cases, not just ones you support. 

• Anonymous

  So would the people not in the union be on there own  ??

• Guest

  If this passes, look for another fight like they just had in Ohio over collective bargaining and we just had over same day registration (while Matt was in Virginia). Matt probably heard the news: Big referenda fights which Republican anti-union, anti-voter forces lost 60-40.

  So, yeah, follow Matt’s advice and pass it so Democrats can really get out the vote in 2012 and take back the statehouse, win Maine for Obama, and return Michaud to the House.

• Anonymous

  Pssssssssssst. Don’t tell anyone but Matt lives in Virginia and apparently wants Maine to be just like Mississippi and Florida. Both are right to work states who have an unemployment rate above 10% and each of those states have counties where the unemployment rate is drastically higher. That right to work thingy sure seems to be working out really well for them.

• Anonymous

  I’m sorry but I find his tone a bit arrogant or something. “I have tripled my salary in the last….etc etc…”   and then , ” Folks like yourself cling to…”   Social Darwinism attitude.  I am thankful not everyone in this world clings to that outmoded world view.   That does not work in the world we now live in.  

• Anonymous

  I suppose Rick Perry is proud of his state’s low educational outcomes too.

• Anonymous

  GoMaine!!!

• Anonymous

  Did you notice there was no mention about the average wages paid in “right to work” states vs states without “right to work” legislation? I wonder why?  If being a right to work state is so great then the wages paid in those states must be off the charts high. Unfortunately we all know that isn’t the case, but Matt seems to have forgotten that minor little point.

• Anonymous

  Yes, and as you know, the data and statistics are accessible. Indiana would be one of many examples. But, people see what they want to see.   When data and proof is there however, a poster’s credibility goes out the window when they dismiss it consistently as it is not what they want to see. It might prove them incorrect.  There was a Wall St Journal poll out (conservative paper) that just detailed declining support for the tea party.  A poster tried to completely twist those findings.    Humorous …almost….

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  Oh I love unions.  Except when they are given special consideration by law, and control the political process for their own gain.  If people want to VOLUNTARILY join one and use it as a negotiating tool against a corporation, I say more power to them.  But you’ll never get me to support the government being in bed with unions.

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  That is a phony argument.  The right to work states have a great deal more in-migration (i.e. population growth), and with rising populations, employment tends to lag.

  The average wage argument is phony as well.  Wages in those states are lower for a variety of reasons (first of which is, they’ve ALWAYS been lower), and it has a lot to do with cost of living.  For instance, it costs next to nothing to live in Texas, and as a result wages tend to be lower because even with lower salaries your disposable income is higher – a lot higher – than in places like California or New York which have very high costs of living.  Just look at real estate in those competing markets.  Of course people get paid less.

  The facts about wages are clear, and simple.  In the past decade, right to work states grew faster than non right to work states by basically every significant measure.  RTW states grew their gross state product by 54.6%, while non RTW states grew 41.1%.  The personal incomes grew 53.3% for RTW states and only grew 40.6% in non RTW states.  The list goes on.

  You are cherry picking statistics and taking them completely out of context.  RTW states may indeed have lower incomes, but that has nothing to do with being RTW states, and in reality they are creating wealth at a significantly higher rate.  Jobs are being created, and they’re good paying jobs.

  Maine being the only state north of Virginia to have RTW would be a giant beacon for businesses who wanted to relocate to the northeast.

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  If that was the case than wages in the RTW states must have been a lot higher before they instituted RTW, and those poor fools saw their money slip away, right?

  Wait… that isn’t the case?  What’s that you say?  Wages have always been lower in those states?  Lower cost of living you say?  Different industries and economic sectors you say?  

  The real key is how income is being grown.  Where they started vs. where they are now.  And RTW states are growing at a significantly higher clip than non RTW states, both in the products they produce and the wages their workers make.

  As for me, making 70,000 in Texas is a heck of a lot better than making 300,000 a year in San Francisco based on real estate alone.  Try to not compare apples to oranges my friend, it does you no good.

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  Giving you a personal example was arrogant?  I’m proud of my hard work, thank you, and I was demonstrating that in the modern, global, diverse, mobile economy, you end up with better salaries and better benefits by negotiating your own personal services with competing companies.  Union strong arm tactics are in most cases not needed.

  My larger point was that I have a good wage with good benefits and I’m not unionized, and the freedom that affords me is a thousand times more valuable than a union.  I’m glad I have that choice, and everyone else should to.

  This isn’t the economy of the 1930s, and we should stop pretending like it is.

• Anonymous

  Here’s the deal Matt. If you work in a union shop and don’t want to be a member of a union. You have that right.

  The union on ther other hand does, by law has to represent you in labor disputes.

  For that service, they only charge you half of what full union dues would be.

  Now if you right wingers would push for legislation that would take the onus of representing non-union members in labor disputes in a union shop. Maybe I could see your point.

    

• Anonymous

  Hopefully yes. They could negotiate their own benefits package with their employer. Sort of like what the WalMart employees do. Tra la la, tra la la.

• Anonymous

  Matthew please stop repeating the big “LIE”. Workers do have a choice of wether to join or not join a union.

  They can get a job in a union shop and are not forced to become a union member. They are only required to pay half what their fellow employees pay. They get ALL the benefits that the uinion negotiates for. The only thing they give up is voting power within the union and on contracts.

  Why do you continue to repeat the big ”LIE”.

• Anonymous

  Matthew, what you do isn’t actually work or productive.  You produce no product.  You manufacture opinion.  You didn’t get there through hard work, you got there through BS.  Just because someone is willing to pay you to spout your opinion doesn’t mean you work hard, it means you tell them what they want to hear, and they want to spread more propaganda.  It is cute that you think it is hard work, but really anyone could do it.

• Anonymous

  Hey Matt, how about mentioning the fact that union and non union are both moot points if the jobs are in CHINA!!! You are just part of the problem, like every other politician today, Republican or Democrat. When are even one of you guys going to point the finger in the right direction? Lop sided trade agreements, a foreign policy that we can’t afford, and a total lack of patriotism at the cash register on the part of the American consumer. Less than 7% of the private sector jobs are now union Matt, you need not hide under the covers from the evil union monster under the bed anymore. It is safe to come out now. The largest employer in America is the largest under employer in America and the standard bearer for “public assistance” wages. They do not produce a single product and help to put us in the hole to a communist nation for over $1 trillion dollars. I would love to see you lay that one at the feet of the evil unions, or American workers in general. Buy American, pay your taxes, and the rest of our problems would solve themselves Matt. But you just keep after the remaining 7% of those who are in a union and never mind the real issue, putting America back to work. How much are we paying you? What ever it is, you are over paid.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SHNOU64ZBOBIKWUF5IM6WSH7WA entitled4life

  Actually the union represents its members in labor disputes.  The non union workers are represented by default in the State of Maine.  The labor unions asked to be compensated for that and John Baldacci, who owed the unions for both of his elections to governor and to Congress, paid them back by giving that to them.  It was the biggest return on union campaign investments in the history of Maine.

• Anonymous

  Great, then I eagerly await your next column where you will advocate for the ability of all workers to unionize and use the tools that are required to have a say.  It will be great when police, firefighters, and teachers have the right to strike in this state?  Then we can begin working on the right-to-work piece.

• luvGSD

  I find it odd that the GOP is pushing “right to work” while insisting that we have no right to health care.  Oh wait, I see the common thread:  corporate profits.

• Anonymous

  Unions didn’t wreck the economy. 

• Anonymous

  We should also stop pretending like those that get great salaries are the ones contributing the most to this country. Be proud of your salary all you want, but it doesn’t make your contributions meaningful. 

• Anonymous

  You Mainers crack me up.  You all sit around scratching your head, wondering why businesses do not want to move to Maine.  The best excuse you can come up with is to blame your Governor.  I lived in Texas for the last 14 years and I can tell you that you would probably earn 50% more in Texas than in Maine for the same job (cost of living is cheaper in TX also).  How could that be with their “right to work” policies of destroying unions?  Keep scratching your heads.

  The more business you can attract, the more the workers are in demand, which equates to higher wages.

• Anonymous

  People do join unions voluntarily, and they don’t have to join a union in order to work in a union shop.  As has been pointed out, non-union workers in a union shop get all of the benefits of union membership, but only pay half the dues that union members pay.   That’s a good deal.
  In the early 1970s I worked two-and-a-half years on the night shift in a GE plant in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  I joined the union (International Union of Electrical Workers, the IUE), and I paid my dues because it was the right and fair thing to do.  It was the same there as here — non-union people got the same benefits that the union had negotiated for everyone.  If all the employees get all of the benefit the union negotiates for them, then everyone should pay something.  That’s only fair.
  You want non-union people to get a completely free ride.  That’s not “right to work,” it’s right to mooch off of others.  It’s a tactic designed to weaken the unions in order to keep the rich rich and keep the poor poor.

• Anonymous

  Not if you are a state worker – you are forced to join the union – courtesy of Baldacci.

• Guest

  Our people are working more and getting paid more than the states you think we should follow. 

  Even you admit that anti-union states have lower wages — but somehow keep asserting it would be a good deal for Maine people
   Why would anyone care what the “gross state product” when they are going to be paid less, especially since Maine has lower than average unemployment rates.  Oh, right — you like them because those states “create more wealth” for a select few. 

• Guest

  Those states have always been poor because they have been ruled by people who want to keep them poor. They had lousy education systems and never invested in them because the wealthy didn’t want to pay for them. And so when unions got started, they quickly stopped them with their anti-union policies.

• Anonymous

  There’s a reason why none of the states in the northeast have “right-to-mooch” laws.  We have a different culture in this part of the nation.  We’re not so rabidly anti-union as the South is.  Wages have been historically better in the northeast, and benefits better, because we support the “right-to-organize”.  I don’t begrudge any working man or woman who wants to organize for safer working conditions and a living wage.  Those who don’t want to join their fellow workers in advocating for a better wage or better benefits don’t have to.  But they should pay something — half is fair — to the union that bargained for those higher wages, safer working conditions, and better benefits.

• Anonymous

  The South has historically had lower wages and less safe working conditions because of their long history of slave labor, share-cropping, and racial segregation, and the northeast has historically higher wages and safer working conditions because of our culture of “right-to-organize.”  You want us to be more like the South, where you choose to live.  I live in the northeast because I like the way we do things here.

• Anonymous

  BS?  I assume you mean Bachelor of Science.  Actually, I don’t know anything about Mr. Gagnon’s academic achievements.
  :-)

• kcjonez

  As illustrated by the case of John Paulson, hedge fund manager, who received enough money through manipulating commodities to pay 100,000 first responders a salary of $50,000.  
  That’s just plain wrong.  

• Anonymous

  I guess it’s still true that those who work the hardest, and do the most dangerous work, get paid the least.  That’s why we should have “right-to-organize” laws.

• Anonymous

  Now what about federal law ?? It says if there in a union in the work place the union still HAS to repesent them even if they are not in the union. If the union dose not repesent them an some thing happens to the employee than the employee can sue the union for not going by federal law . So the federal law would would half to be changed. Do you know what the Taff Harlly act is look it up.

• Anonymous

  No hourly employees at wal mart do not negotiate own contrack i know my brother an his girlfriend worked there for 5 years

• Anonymous

  8.4% unemployment in Texas, and 7.3% unemployment in Maine.  You want us to be more like them?  Okay, lower our cost-of-living by giving us warmer weather in the winter.  I’ll stay here in Maine, thank you.  We haven’t felt the need to execute anyone since the 1800s.  I like it here, and I like our culture of “right-to-organize”.

• Anonymous

  Mr. Gagnon, how can you reconcile support for right to work legislation, with support for private property rights?  If an employer chooses to negotiate a contract including a “fair share” provision, why should the government interfere?  If you’re looking to expand liberty, and protect the rights that were historically enjoyed by private business owners, I suggest that eliminating the requirement to negotiate in good faith with unions is as good a place as any to start.

• Anonymous

  “But Maine has a Republican House, Republican Senate and a Republican governor, and this likely represents the best chance Maine has to pass such a bill. If they don’t push for it now, it will likely never get passed.”

  Mr. Gagnon, did you already forget what happened last month as result of the Republican House and Senate pushing an unpopular and radical law on us?  

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  You think the work I was referring to was being a columnist?  I hate to break it to you, sir, but this isn’t what I do for a living.  I do not draw my salary from “producing opinion”.  It might be better for the discussion if you stayed away from personal attacks, especially considering you know nothing about me.

  Although, even worthless as your comment was, it still betrays your complete lack of understanding about the economy. Producing opinion that people want to read is in fact a product, and if it wasn’t books from partisans on the left or the right, or opinion programs on news stations would have no market. Fact is, they generate economic activity, and are in fact a product. Writing this column wasn’t what I was referring to, but none the less it is a product.

  And, if you’re right and anyone can do it, why don’t we see your name in the editorial pages? Why aren’t you drawing an easy paycheck for “no work”?

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  Wait, I thought that wages were lower because of right to work?  Now it is because of slavery?  Make up your mind, penzance.

• Anonymous

  Mr. Gagnon. I find your “my friend” remark insulting. I am not your friend, have never been your friend and based on your writings and the condescending manner in which you reply to those who do not share your narrow and what I consider flawed political ideology have no desire to be your friend.

  “Wait… that isn’t the case?  What’s that you say?  Wages have always been lower in those states?  Lower cost of living you say?  Different industries and economic sectors you say?” Do not attempt to put words into my mouth. I am perfectly able to speak and think for myself. 

   I especially like the way you refer to those who reside in “right to work” states as fools. Name calling does not become you Mr. Gagnon.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  Apparently you have No Concept of a Democracy!

  Unions are a Democracy in the workplace. Every individual has the same voice one vote!

  If a Union is voted in by the majority to represent the workers then the Minority has to adhere to the majorities wishes and become a member and pay the dues!

  It is the same concept that our founding fathers based the US government on!
  A representative government established by the voting process of one man one vote!

  If you are an anarchist and expect to abide by no law in the US expect to be arrested for breaking those laws regardless if you are in agreement with them or not!

  You Mr Gagnon need to get an education!

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  Why do you continue to repeat the big ”LIE”.

  He is a Republican!

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  The rationale for the same day repeal from the Republican party was confused, muddy, and unconvincing.  The rationale for right-to-work is simple and very easy to sell:  ”you should have the choice to join or not join”.  If you think RTW would share a similar fate, I think you are overselling that victory a great deal.

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  If you think paying union dues for the privileged of not being a member of a union constitutes a choice to not participate in the activities of the union, than you are very much mistaken.  That is the point, even people who object to everything the union represents are forced to send money to that which they object to.  That, sir, is not opting out of anything.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  They weren’t built by sweetheart deals cooked up between politicians and union leaders to increase the power of both at the expense of free choice

  Corporations do it with Republicans!

  Why can’t labor do the same!

  Unless of course you have a “”Double Standard”"!

• Anonymous

  Seems like another overreaching Republican proposal from out-of-state that solves no actual issue or problem that faces Mainers. Your rationale that we’re somehow itching for this is what’s unconvincing. But by all means, keep advocating for the Republicans to push legislation that 1, few are asking for (beyond Republican strategists) and 2, were not campaigned on, and we’ll see how long their control lasts.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  Maine being the only state north of Virginia to have RTW would be a giant beacon for businesses who wanted to relocate to the northeast
   
   
  We don’t need any more minimum wage jobs!

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  I want the right to invest!

  I want to Invest in Koch Industries without my money going to a Lobbyist !

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  Former gubernatorial candidate and former president and CEO of Maine & Company Matt Jacobson is repeatedly on record saying that many of the companies that he tried to recruit to Maine didn’t even want to consider moving their operations to a state that isn’t right-to-work. Despite the attractiveness of Maine’s work force, these companies end up in places like Texas or Virginia.

  Thats the race to the Bottom!

  Lets get these Slave States some good Legislation so that we  can race to the Top!

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  The state House fell just barely short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn his veto, and thus died the law.

  GRRRRREAT!

• Anonymous

  I’ve noticed the they never object to the raises or benefits that unions earn for them.

• Anonymous

  If you don’t have unions to represent workers and balance the power of business and industry you don’t have capitalism.  Unions are a creation of capitalism. Mr. Gagnon is actually advocating for fascism.

• Anonymous

  You are the one who said that wages have been historically lower in the South, part of your argument that “right-to-get-a-free-ride-from-union-bargaining-without-paying-a-fair-share” laws are not to blame.  I put it in context.  I like our “right-to-organize” culture in the northeast.  You choose to live in the South with its history of slavery and anti-union attitudes, both of which have favored the interests of the wealthy few over the rights of the average person.

• Anonymous

  As has been repeatedly pointed out, in Maine you already do have the right to join a union or not.

• Anonymous

  I stand by what I said. I appreciate much more the tone of the writer who has a column alternately to yours.

  As for Texas….you can have it. The educational outcomes there are nothing to brag about . You can also have their governor, Rick Perry.   I am not impressed.

• Anonymous

  Amen.

• Anonymous

  “Try to not compare apples to oranges my friend, it does you no good.” Your tone comes across as cocky…”my friend” and as if you are the only one who knows anything. Sorry, it just isn’t effective. The woman opinion writer gets her points across without the arrogance and the cocky know-it-all “demeanor.”
  He (the poster) sure sounds like he knows what he is talking about; more so, than you.

• Anonymous

  He is not persuasive or effective in his arguments at all.

• Anonymous

  Amen.   But he says he is a “libertarian.”  Therefore, you aren’t apt to find him being very supportive of unions.

• Anonymous

  Yes, we will see how long their control lasts, and hopefully not very long.

• Anonymous

  It is looking like voting in the next election might take quite awhile. We will vote not only for the normal things associated with a Presidential election, but from the sounds coming out of Augusta there will also be an historic amount of “people’s vetoes” as well. Let the radical right tea party endorsed republicans have their fun. Let them pass all the unwanted and unneeded laws their cold little hearts desire. Then we the people will once again show them who really owns this State.

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  I guess the sardonic nature of that remark must have flown over your head.  I wasn’t calling them fools, I was mocking the sneering, nose in the air implication that they were somehow stupid knuckle draggers for favoring RTW laws in their states.  I was actually implying that YOU considered them fools.

  Considering that their wages are growing much faster than non-RTW states, fools is the last thing I would call them.  

• Anonymous

  Yes, and looking forward to showing them. That part can’t come soon enough, but don’t like to wish time away. (it goes by fast enough!)

• Anonymous

  I was once in a Union, once!I pity the union lackey that attempts to force me to join again; he will really need that coveted union healthcare if he gets to close.
  I won’t say that unions have not been of significant benefit throughout US history, but with as much good they have done, they have also done some real harm.
   
  One byproduct of unions are those that they have at one time or another hurt, angered or really crossed the line. People like this, much like myself, are ready and willing to respond in kind.  

• Anonymous

  What about those of us that “dont want their insurance” and “dont want union representation”
  I am not worried, the last union lackey that asked me to join had no problem understanding my point of view… ;-)

• Anonymous

  And I am an Independent voter that has no problem saying no to unions 

• Anonymous

  Ahh yes, the good old days, when union fools would actually try and “convince” me to join

• Anonymous

  “free choice” thats a load
  But thankfully, no one has had the stones to try and ”convince” me since LePage got into office.

   

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  And I am a Union Member who has NO problem saying No to Politicians who are Stoogies for the Corporations

• Anonymous

  There is an aspect you may have overlooked; those of us that dont and wont have anything to do with unions
  I will not be part of a union and will not pay into one either

  Union lackey’s have tried and failed, painfully
  As I said to them, who’s gonna make me

• Anonymous

  Then you wont mind that I am not part of your collective bargaining or that I dont pay dues

• Anonymous

   Could you please describe how have unions hurt workers?

• Anonymous

  Oh for god sakes, open up a history book

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  Workers often let their feet do their negotiating.  I myself have tripled my salary in the last three years and have double the vacation time, and I didn’t need a union to extort my employer to do it – I changed jobs and sold my services to competing companies/organizations, which raised the price of my labor

  Get your feet warmed up! 

  I doubt you will last long writing your antiunion sentiment  garbage in Maine!

• Anonymous

  I see you have resorted to insults once again Mr. Gagnon. This time  to my intelligence. They show just the type of person you are and what you have to resort to in order to buttress your , in my opinion, flawed position.  As far as the remark about fools it was authored by you Mr. Gagnon, “If that was the case than wages in the RTW states must have been a lot higher before they instituted RTW, and those poor fools saw their money slip away, right?”  Do not attempt to blame me for your insulting remarks made about people who reside in “right to work” states. I have no problem what so ever standing behind what I say. Why don’t you at least have the courage of your convictions and stand behind what you write?

• Anonymous

  Matt,

  You are far too intelligent and knowledgeable on this subject to be arguing with these clueless goofballs.    It is obvious you know what you are talking about and most of your detractors do not.  You are trying to take on a bunch of idiots post by post and you are being out posted.
  American unionism started this it’s roots nourished by communism and it hasn’t moved very since. 

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  Being forced to funnel money to a union for the privilege of not being a member doesn’t constitute having the ability to opt out. In my book, you will always be a satellite member.

• Anonymous

  No, I’d like your opinion on how unions have harmed workers.

• Anonymous

  I understand your point, and hope you understand mine — and I think we must respectfully disagree with one another.

• Anonymous

  No they are not.  They were in existence long before the Soviet Union.

• Anonymous

  Because I have values and morals and would not stoop so low to be a republican strategist.  It would require a frontal lobotomy, a complete disregard for history and the truth, and a lack of morals.

• Anonymous

  That is a blatant lie. Nobody is forced to join any union.

• Anonymous

  So you believe that it’s OK for a union to bargain a higher wage, better benefits and increased work place safety for you but you shouldn’t have to help pay the cost of those negotiations.   How is that fair?  If you accept the benefits a union gains for you, you should help pay the cost of getting those benefits.  To do otherwise is selfish, insular,  and anti-capitalistic. 

• Anonymous

  Very easy solution. Quit the job you have in a union shop and go find one of the glorious non union jobs. Check out their benefit package vs. what you enjoy with a union.

• Anonymous

  Texas?  That nice state with the lowest scores on educational achievement in the country?  Perhaps ignorance is bliss!  LOL

• Anonymous

  Matthew, can’t you understand the difference between union dues and maintenance dues? Union dues allow you to vote and have your voice heard in contract and officers selection. Maintenance fees pay for union representation when your employer suddenly takes a dislike to you and wants to make your life miserable. The government makes it mandatory for the union to represent you in labor problems.

• Anonymous

  I’m sure he didn’t.  It’s not difficult to detect ignorance and realize that an intelligent conversation is a waste of time.

• Anonymous

  No, Mr. Gagnon, that’s another lie.  Non-union employees are asked to pay only for the cost of negotiating contracts.   And that’s all they pay for.  No money is taken out of their paychecks to pay for the political activities of the union.  

• Anonymous

  But you will accept every pay raise and benefit they negotiate for you. 

• Anonymous

  And you aren’t cherry picking.   AHAHAHAHA

• Anonymous

  Wow!  Unions are an arm of communism?  All of them?  If you go back to the 1930s, many union leaders were Socialists, and a few were Communists.  Almost none are today.
  When I worked in a GE plant in the 1970s I belonged to the International Union of Electrical Workers, the IUE.  The IUE was formed in 1949 or 1950 as an explicitly anti-Communist labor union.  People in leadership positions had to sign a pledge saying they were not Communists (which some in other unions, such as the United Electrical Workers, or UE, thought was an unconstitutional  infringement on their rights).  The IUE was created by the CIO to destroy and replace the UE.  The UE still exists today, but, because they would not take an anti-communist pledge, they have not been in the AFL-CIO since 1949.
  I’m an old guy, old enough to have known a real Socialist or two.  Right wing talk about “socialism” today is simply ignorant ranting by people who have no actual idea of what the word means.  And outside of North Korea and Cuba, I doubt if you could find a Communist anywhere — even the “Communists” of China are promoting capitalism today.

• Anonymous

  Non uninon workers in a union shop are reresented by the Union the same as Union members are. They are required to do that by law. If that is not clear enough for you, there are remedial reading classes available at one of our community colleges.

• Anonymous

  Oh, come off it, you work in an job where everybody is expected to do their own negotiating not  in a factory or a low wage industry like hotel workers.  Of course you can “better” yourself.   Why don’t you describe exactly how an assembly line worker or chamber maid would go about talking management into giving him/her more money than the their fellow workers.     Your example speaks volumes about how little you really know about the average wage worker. 

• Anonymous

  Union Intimidation
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teamsters

  http://www.wcnyh.org/newspage1.htm 

  http://www.workerfreedom.org/senate-opens-flood-gates-union-crime-a3205

  http://www.unionfacts.com/employee-rights/decertification-coercion-prevention

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMzjCdXRLeg

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5iSi3CPWaY&feature=related

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHkEBMXJQmQ&feature=related

• Anonymous

  Than YOU half to get the federal changed the Taff Hartlly act.

• Anonymous

  Dont have to, I just dont pay, I dont back down, and I am always willing to take it to the next level anytime

• Anonymous

  Yes you are right on the mandatory  representation but the people in here don’t know jack about that law its the Taf hartlly act

• Anonymous

  They want something for nothing we call them free loaders

• Anonymous

  There wasnt much of a conversation

• Anonymous

  What part of “I am not part of your collective bargaining” is hard to understand

• Anonymous

  An don’t forget in a nonunion shop they can control your life 24/7 an don’t say they can’t because it’s all ready been done an theres no law that says they can’t.

• Anonymous

  Don’t for get you union haters if it was not for the union you would not have for benefity that you have now. You would be working for .50 an hr for 12 hrs. an no over time an no benefits. You would have no safety. No labor dept so they could just fire you for no reason . They could fire you because you did not mow the bosses lawn. You took your kids to the hospital because they were sick. I remember they fired workers at a oil company so they did not half to pay retirement to the the management people that was on 60 mins. many years a go.

• Anonymous

  No, I dont have to do anything. I havent paid any dues, dont intend to and no one has asked me to join in a long time, and so far no one has the stones to try

• Anonymous

  Please, if you are suffering from paranoia, seek help. No job has ever controlled me or my life 24/7. There is no union that comes into my home and tells me what to do with my free time. There is no employer that can do that to me at the moment.

  Now if you are talking about the good old days, pre-unions. You have a case in point. That was the glory days when you didn’t have to pay union dues. In fact you didn’t have money, as your rent and food was deducted from your wages and most found themselves getting deeper in debt. When you lost your job, you immediately lost your house. There was no time and a half for over time. You worked when they told you to and for however many hours they demanded of you. There were no retirement benefits or medical benefits. Yep, you had the right to work, keep your mouth shut and pray that your back would hold out.

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  Perhaps you haven’t taken a look at the state income figures, but Maine is an extraordinarily poor state and ranks very low in wages.

  Gross state product matters because it is a measure of the products that workers in the state produce, that they are able to sell.  Increase in income matters because it is the only truly “equal” measure of how much states are improving, given the wild and drastic differences between states due to things like cost of living.

  But by all means continue to stick your fingers in your ears and hum really loud if you must.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  If you dont mind that I dont follow the laws of the United States and don’t Pay Taxes! 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  He is out numbered because he is wrong! 

  He appears to be a Shill for the Corporate Republicans!

  A poor one at that!

• Anonymous

  Are you comparing union scum to US law, I think not!

  I did my part for god and country, but no union dip-stick is going to force me to do anything,,, ever

  Taxes are quite different from paying protection to a union, maybe union members need to have someone protect them, but I Need No Protection

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

  If that was the case than wages in the RTW states must have been a lot higher before they instituted RTW, and those poor fools saw their money slip away, right?

  Lets get real!

  The poor uneducated slaves just never left the plantations!

• Anonymous

  Disqus generic email templateNo he’s not!

• Guest

  No, gross state product isn’t the only equal measure you can compare states. There are many, including access to health care, math and reading scores for kids, life expectancy, and public safety. When you look at those, Maine’s quite a great state. Perhaps now that you live away, you’ve forgotten what a great place it is.

• Anonymous

  Do you know what the federal says ?? It says if is a union in the work place they HALF to repesent you weather you like it or not thats the law. If you don’t like that law (taf Hartlly act )get it changed

• Anonymous

  I did not say that the union controlles a person 24/7. I said the COMPANY can controll you 24 / 7ban there’s no law to stop them . like they can tell you to stop smoking at work an at home or any place else an theres no law to stop them an thats a fact it happen to two ladies im MI. They went at every agence an they said there’s NOTHING we can do for because there’s no law that can help you an that was on 60 mins.

• Anonymous

  1) “Right to Work” is not a Libertarian position.  So-called ‘Right to Work’ laws prohibit businesses from making certain agreements with their employees.  If a liberal minded company (yes there are many of these including my own) wants to sign a union fee agreement, the government will step in and stop it under ‘Right to Work’.  This is a reduction of rights not  an expansion of rights.
   
  2) If ‘Right to Work’ states have more jobs, why are their unemployment rates higher than Maine’s?  Maine’s unemployment is 17th best among 50 states.  “Right to Work” state ranks are:
   
  Alabama 37th, Arizona 32nd, Arkansas 26th, Florida 43rd, Georgia 42nd, Idaho 31st, Mississippi 47th, Nevada 50th, N. Carolina 44th, S. Carolina 46th, Tennessee 39th, Texas 28th.
   
  Are these states we really ought to be copying?  Really?

• Anonymous

  No, these are not states to emulate. I have read about the so-called “right to work” states, As you listed in #2,  look where many of those states rank.  Very impressive??!! No, Mr Gagnon sure did not make a good case. Not at all.

• Anonymous

  I see aggressive and rude union workers.  I see union workers trying to intimidate others. I see some corrupt union  bosses that got caught.  I still don’t see how the average union worker has been harmed by the union. 

• Anonymous

  What dose the federal law say on  representation  ?

• Anonymous

  Bottom line, I will never pay

• Anonymous

  Its obvious that you are blind to the history of unions, and/or so deep in denial that discussing it is pointless.
  The only thing you cant respond to is that I will never let anyone force me join a union, ever!

• Anonymous

  It dose not say that you half to pay union dues it says that the union has to repesent you

• Anonymous

  Union of Soviet Socialistic States…pay close attention to the first word……

• Anonymous

  LOL! How insightful. 

• Anonymous

  Blantant lie? Your ignorance of state politics and state government policy is obvious.  Ask any state employee – they  (state employees) have been forced  forced to  join the union and to pay union dues after Baldacci made it a condition of state employment to appease the state government union, that is why a group of state employees tried to litigate it just last year because they didn’t want to belong to the union. You are totally clueless, wake up and smell the roses patom1. 

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  And don’t forget that much of what unions needed to fight for – namely health and safety standards in the workplace – have now been codified into law, thus removing one of the primary reasons unions existed in the first place.

• Anonymous

  I dont care what they are mandated to do, no union will ever force to join or pay

• Anonymous

  I dont care, no union will ever make me join or pay

• Anonymous

  Would you make it voluntary to pay taxes?  No, because it creates a free rider problem.  If paying taxes was voluntary, no one would pay taxes and we would not have government services.  The so-called “right to work” laws create a similar free rider problem.  If joining the union is voluntary, free riders will choose not to join because they know that they will benefit from the union’s efforts to get the employer to agree to protections for workers without having to pay into the union.  This necessarily weakens unions and, consequently, gives more freedom to employers to exploit their workers.  It is no wonder that employers want to set up shop in the places where they have that type of an advantage.  If you want employers to have more freedom to exploit workers because you think it is better for business, just say so.  Don’t take the dishonest position that “right to work” laws have no detrimental effect on workers’ rights.

• Anonymous

  Would you make it voluntary to pay taxes?  No, because it creates a free
  rider problem.  If paying taxes was voluntary, no one would pay taxes
  and we would not have government services.  The so-called “right to
  work” laws create a similar free rider problem.  If joining the union is
  voluntary, free riders will choose not to join because they know that
  they will benefit from the union’s efforts to get the employer to agree
  to protections for workers without having to pay into the union.  This
  necessarily weakens unions and, consequently, gives more freedom to
  employers to exploit their workers.  It is no wonder that employers want
  to set up shop in the places where they have that type of an
  advantage.  If you want employers to have more freedom to exploit
  workers because you think it is better for business, just say so.  Don’t
  take the dishonest position that “right to work” laws have no
  detrimental effect on workers’ rights.

• Anonymous

  Would you make it voluntary to pay taxes?  No, because it creates a free
  rider problem.  If paying taxes was voluntary, no one would pay taxes
  and we would not have government services.  The so-called “right to
  work” laws create a similar free rider problem.  If joining the union is
  voluntary, free riders will choose not to join because they know that
  they will benefit from the union’s efforts to get the employer to agree
  to protections for workers without having to pay into the union.  This
  necessarily weakens unions and, consequently, gives more freedom to
  employers to exploit their workers.  It is no wonder that employers want
  to set up shop in the places where they have that type of an
  advantage.  If you want employers to have more freedom to exploit
  workers because you think it is better for business, just say so.  Don’t
  take the dishonest position that “right to work” laws have no
  detrimental effect on workers’ rights.

• Anonymous

  Like people have said if it was not for the unions you would never have what you do have now am i right ??

• http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

  That is your choice, but you are running away from an opportunity to defend your position with some facts. I’m non-unionized but I don’t work in an industry that is conducive to such organization, at least my sector of the industry, commercial photography. And if you think the abuses of management are less hurtful to workers, or workers are some how helped by abusive management practices I’d be curious to hear how.

• http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

  Very Glenn Beckian of you to make that connection…

• Anonymous

  I dont run, and I dont need anyone to defend me

• http://twitter.com/MatthewGagnon Matthew Gagnon

  Which is pretty much irrelevant to the point that the purpose unions were established for has withered a great deal because as society has advanced, it has codified these things into law, making unions much less necessary.

• Anonymous

  With out union our society would of never advance we would be like those other countries