It was a 'watershed' year for workers building power, Maine labor leaders say

In a year that saw a wave of strikes erupt around the U.S. and hard-fought unionization campaigns within some of the biggest companies in the world, Maine workers also made headlines.

Among the major national labor stories this year was when nearly 2,000 nurses at Maine Medical Center unionized the state’s largest private employer, MaineHealth, amid their second year on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The successful union election followed several failed attempts by nurses to organize going back to the 1970s.

“When you look at history, you see that when workers are pushed to the edge, that’s when they tend to organize. No question, this is one of those inflection points,” said Todd Ricker, the lead labor representative with the Maine State Nurses Association, the union Maine Med nurses voted to join.

Ricker said the nurses’ victory at the state’s largest hospital inspired other nurses as well as workers outside the health care industry.

Read more: https://mainebeacon.com/it-was-a-watershed-year-for-workers-building-power-maine-labor-leaders-say/