BUSINESS ZONES WOULD HURT MAINE’S ECONOMY

LePage’s New Business Gimmick Drives Down Wages

 AUGUSTA—Top Democrats dismissed Governor LePage’s failed and divisive initiative to undercut Maine workers and communities. At an event today in Brunswick, the Governor announced his “Business Zones” gimmick which he hasn’t mention since the State of the State in February.

For the third year in a row, Governor LePage introduced so-called right-to-work legislation.  More than two years ago, the 125^th Republican-controlled Legislature, rejected his plan.

“The question we have to ask is why does Governor LePage want to lower the wages of Maine people?,” said State Senator Stan Gerzofsky from Brunswick. “The governor may call this right to work but I call it right to work for less. All this does is give CEOs the right to pay workers less and deny them access to healthcare and retirement. It seems to me this is not something for Governor LePage to celebrate when he ranks dead last for private sector job growth.”

Research has found that both union and nonunion workers earn $1,500 less per year in so-called right-to-work states than in states that allow unions. Additionally, researchers have found that employees are less likely to receive healthcare and pension benefits through their jobs in right to work states.

“Maine can’t afford to join in this race to the bottom. Under this governor’s watch, more children are living in poverty and families are working harder but making less,” said Rep. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick. “Now our chief executive is trying to drive down pay to score political points on the backs of working Mainers.”

Nearly one in four Maine children younger than 5 are living in poverty, according to the Maine Children’s Alliance.

Maine ranks 50th among all other states in private sector job growth since January 2011, according to the Maine Center for Economic Policy’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Data.

As other New England states have recovered all of the jobs they lost during the recession, Maine has recovered only one-third.

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So-called right to work states are highlighted in yellow. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2011