Sen. Daughtry earns a perfect score from unions for pro-worker voting record

AUGUSTA — Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, earned a perfect score from the Maine AFL-CIO for her votes to support working Maine families. Sen. Daughtry is one of 22 Senators to earn either a 90 percent or a perfect score from the Maine AFL-CIO.

“As a small business owner who employs folks right here in the Midcoast, I am committed to passing laws and policies that support Maine’s workers without hurting businesses,” said Sen. Daughtry. “We all know that Maine is experiencing a workforce shortage in lots of industries. Unless we address it, we’ll lose the small businesses, like mine, that are the backbone of Maine’s economy—and we’ll miss out on opening new ones, too. As I learned from leading the effort to establish a statewide Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, we can work with the business community to provide Maine’s hardworking men and women with good benefits and pay.”

Sen. Daughtry has a long history of supporting Maine workers, including sponsoring Maine’s statewide Paid Family and Medical Leave Program in 2023. As the Senate Assistant Majority Leader and a Member of the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee, Sen. Daughtry worked on bills to ensure workers are paid what they’re owed, make it easier for workers to vote on joining a union, and help workers’ compensation keep up with the cost of living.

Sen. Daughtry also sponsored LD 1756, the mandatory captive audience meeting ban. The law prevents employers from using their economic authority over employees to violate their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly. It allows workers to refuse to attend an employer meeting focused on union busting, politics, or religion—without the fear of being disciplined or fired.

Maine ALF-CIO, a statewide federation of more than 200 labor unions, based their legislative scorecard on legislators’ votes on 11 bills, including the bipartisan supplemental budget and pro-worker bills from Maine Senate Democrats:

• LD 372, “An Act to Increase Enforcement and Accountability for Wage and Hour Violations,” sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono
• LD 373, “An Act to Improve Labor Conditions for Maine Workers,” sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono
• LD 1639, “An Act to Address Unsafe Staffing of Nurses and Improve Patient Care,” sponsored by Sen. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough
• LD 1756, “An Act to Protect Employee Freedom of Speech,” sponsored by Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick
• LD 1983, “An Act to Establish the Maine Buy American and Build Maine Act,” sponsored by Pres. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash

The Maine AFL-CIO represents more than 40,000 Maine workers and retirees delivering public services or working at paper mills, shipyards, hospitals, construction sites, nonprofits, utilities, and in many other industries.

A PDF of the full scorecard can be found here.

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