The recent killing of Marlene McNeill at a group home in Portland should shake all of Maine. As an emergency room nurse, I am very familiar with workplace violence. It is not rare, it is routine. Caretakers are punched, kicked, spat on and threatened on a regular basis. Too often, these incidents are dismissed as “part of the job.”

It is never normal or OK to be harmed at work. We deserve better. We deserve safe staffing, appropriate training, proper security support and leadership that takes threats seriously before tragedy occurs. 

Shalom House workers attempted to unionize in 2023 to address their pressing safety concerns. Instead of working together to make their workplace a safer, better staffed agency management launched a full-scale union busting campaign, ultimately thwarting the organizing effort. 

McNeill’s friend and co-worker, Jessica McKosky, said, “That hallway (where McNeill was killed) that we walk into every morning is isolated. You have a locked door and a stairwell to another locked door, so nobody’s watching … It sounds like she was a very easy target there.” 

This safety lapse could have easily been addressed. It is agonizing to know that now that tragedy has occurred, it will be. The voices of the workers at the Shalom House should have been celebrated and amplified and respected during their unionization efforts, not stifled. 

Marlene McNeill should still be alive. Honoring her memory requires real change. It requires action — from employers, lawmakers, regulators and all of us — to make workplace safety a priority for every worker in Maine

Meg Sinclair
Westbrook