It’s Dairy Month in Maine but the Democratic governor has proven herself no friend to dairy farm labor and labor in general. She vetoed bill that includes labor in the development of offshore wind, and her veto of the farmworkers bill last year was another chance she missed to change workers lives in Maine.

This past weekend, there was a March for Dairy Farmworkers rights in Portland, lead by the organization Immigrant Justice. The governor was not there. The march addressed Hannaford, specifically because of the documented labor abuses of workers at dairies who produce the Hannaford brand milk. “Milk with Dignity” is the campaign.

Gov. Mills has declared this month Dairy Month. She invited farmers, dairy organizations and lobbying groups to the capital at Blaine house. She proclaimed, “Dairy farms are a cornerstone of Maine’s Ag-Industry.” She left out that the dairy workers are the cornerstone of the dairy farms.

From her press release announcing Dairy Month, she said, “There are 176 dairy farms, with 4,733 direct workers and 10,301 indirect jobs” in Maine. Was there one of the 4,733 dairy workers invited to Blaine House? Was the governor celebrating them as well?

The governor has proven, by omission, that she has taken the side of big business over workers. What better justifies workers in Maine to unify and march in protest and in defense of their rights to fair labor conditions, treatment, pay and benefits?

I should mention that the party platform of the current administration states that all workers in Maine have the right to unionize.

Jeff Dubin
Waldoboro

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