AUGUSTA, Maine — The major union representing Maine state workers filed a labor relations complaint on Friday against Gov. Janet Mills’ administration, alleging a top negotiator is refusing to bargain in good faith over a new contract.
The move from the Maine Service Employees Association to the Maine Labor Relations Board was a major escalation between the liberal union representing roughly 9,000 state employees and the Democratic governor’s administration, though the sides also had difficult negotiations ahead of a 2019 contract deal.
The union’s 13-page complaint, which was first reported by the news arm of the conservative Maine Policy Institute on Friday, centers on Breena Bissell, Maine’s human resources chief, and her posture in early negotiations around a new contract to replace the one that will expire at the end of the current fiscal year in late June.
At a Wednesday meeting, the union alleges that Bissell refused to allow it to have more than 12 members on its bargaining team and said the state would determine whether those employees were needed to work instead of being allowed to join contract talks. Those conditions amount to an illegal refusal to negotiate in good faith, the union alleges.
“This behavior is unlawful and unacceptable,” Dean Staffieri, the union’s president, told workers in a Friday afternoon email. “Bargaining is about both sides sitting down as equals to meet, discuss proposals and reach agreement that both can agree to.”
The union’s...
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