As most Maine people know, there have been several attempts over the past year to undermine the rights of working people to organize and collectively bargain in our state.

The ability to negotiate as a group is what makes it possible for any of us who are not independently wealthy to have weekends, overtime pay, access to health care, sick leave, a minimum wage and safer working conditions.

The most recent attack on workers came in the form of legislation sponsored by Republican Rep. Dale Crafts of Lisbon, specifically to benefit the owners of DeCoster Egg Farms, to strip the workers at large factory farms in Maine of the right to organize.

Factory farm workers do some of the most difficult, dangerous and dirty work in the state. Why should the Legislature be repealing their right to organize?

We all want to help Maine workers increase their economic prosperity and improve their lives. Organizing is one of the most successful tools for such workers to achieve greater economic prosperity and security.

Why would we want to remove this tool for workers to improve themselves? Repealing these workers’ collective bargaining rights will not create a single job or do a single thing to improve Maine’s economy or working conditions.

It is imperative that our elected officials focus on job creation, getting our economy back on track and protecting the middle class — not on benefiting corporations such as the DeCoster Egg Farm.

Repealing workers’ rights does not create jobs, help Maine families or improve Maine’s economy. It only benefits corporations and their bottom line.

The original bill put forth by Crafts took away the right to a minimum wage and overtime pay from any worker at these farms. It is unclear why anyone would think that was OK, but luckily the entire Labor Committee agreed to strip this from the proposal.

The amended version of the bill from most of the Republican committee members is to take away the right of these workers to collectively bargain for better working conditions of any kind.

Of course, there is not a single Democrat who supports this, and the Republican Senate chairman of the Labor Committee joined Democrats in opposing the bill. He joined my Democratic colleagues on the committee in a vote to kill the bill. Unfortunately, when the bill came before the entire House for a vote, the Republican majority pushed the antiworker proposal forward.

This bill is currently only relevant to the farm workers at DeCoster Egg Farms. Readers probably remember DeCoster well. DeCoster has a 50-year history of repeatedly breaking the law and repeatedly violating workers’ rights, workplace safety, public health and environmental standards.

This prompted the Legislature to enact legislation covering large-scale factory egg farms with basic workplace protections in 1975 and 1997. In 2011 alone, DeCoster and its affiliated companies have had 26 OSHA violations and were fined more than $37,000 by OSHA. This is not behavior that should be rewarded.

In November 2011, Moark LLC, a subsidiary of Land ‘O Lakes, entered into a 10-year lease agreement with DeCoster Egg Farms in Maine. We all hope for the better treatment of workers and safer working conditions at the DeCoster Egg factory farms under new management from Moark LLC.

However, new management doesn’t translate into workers’ rights no longer being relevant. Just because the factory farms are being leased doesn’t mean workers now deserve less protection or fewer rights. And further, DeCoster still owns the production facilities.

As we face controversial proposals to roll back health and insurance protections for workers injured on the job or sent to the unemployment line, it’s critical that the Legislature defends the Mainers working hard for a paycheck every week and not selling them out.

Workers of all kinds across Maine are feeling left behind in the current economy. The middle class is the backbone of Maine, and we must keep that backbone strong.

While our nation is starting to see signs of recovery, it’s still a scary time for everyone, whether you have a job or are looking for one. Maine families must feel like lawmakers in Augusta have their back.

Democrats continue to stand up for working families and have been focused on creating jobs in Maine. I believe any moderate Republican would do so as well, and it is unfortunate that not one single Republican voted against this bill in the House. So far only one Republican senator has voted against the bill. Hopefully, a couple of his fellow Senate Republicans will join him and Senate Democrats to defeat this bill instead of putting the interests of big out- of- state corporations before Maine people.

I believe the many Mainers who will never forget DeCoster’s past hope that we will see evidence of bipartisan, moderate common sense when their legislators vote on these anti-worker bills.

Rep. Peter Kent, D-Woolwich, serves on the Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation Committee and represents Woolwich, parts of Bath, Brunswick, Topsham and West Bath.

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