The National AFL-CIO bus tour stopped in Brewer today to rally with several local unions that are in the course of contract negotiations.
Cynthia Phinney, president of Maine AFL-CIO, spoke about the national threats to labor unions from the Trump administration.
"Authoritarian regimes always attack labor unions because unions workers joined together in common cause, have great power," she said. "And it's not power that will be wielded to help concentrate the wealth of a country or the world at the top. It's power that will be wielded to share prosperity widely and fairly."
Speakers also highlighted the work of local unions in negotiations at Eastern Maine Medical Center, the city of Bangor and graduate student workers at the University of Maine.
Lexie Merk is a member of the University of Maine graduate student workers union, which has been bargaining with the university system for more than 650 days.
"We deserve wages and benefits that live up to the critical contributions to the research and teaching missions of the University of Maine system and doesn't trail miles behind our peers," she said. "It's time for a fair contract that invests in graduate workers, because an investment in us is an investment in Maine."
