Maine lawmakers reject proposal for right-to-work zones

It got stopped in Maine

Maine lawmakers got the message and today voted down a proposal to create right-to-work zones in the states.

By a vote of 91-55, the Maine House of Representatives decided right-to-work doesn't create jobs.

The Associated Press reports:

Maine lawmakers have rejected Gov. Paul LePage's proposal to offer business tax breaks and workers the ability not to pay labor union fees in certain parts of the state. 

The Republican governor's proposal aims attract companies that invest more than $50 million and create at least 1,500 jobs to the former Loring Air Force Base and Brunswick Naval Air Station. Businesses would get tax and energy cost relief and assistance to help train and recruit workers. It would also create "right-to-work zones," meaning non-union employees wouldn't have to pay fees to negotiate or administer contracts. 

Don Berry, president of the Maine AFL-CIO, called LePage's proposal a re-election stunt because it wouldn't support workers and businesses already in the state:

We should be building our economy from the bottom up and the middle out.  That means supporting Maine businesses and workers who are here.  This bill gives away the store to big business from away but does nothing for the small businesses and workers who are here.