AFL-CIO wraps up convention in Bangor

BANGOR – Members of the Maine AFL-CIO wrapped up their three-day 26th biennial convention Saturday by accepting the thanks of Maine’s two congressmen.

Reps. Tom Allen of Portland and Michael Michaud of East Millinocket, both Democrats, also asked for the support of delegates in their races next year.

Michaud is seeking re-election to the House of Representatives.

Allen is running against incumbent Susan Collins of Bangor for the U.S. Senate. The election is not until November 2008, but the race has heated up much earlier than usual because of the national attention it has garnered.

The Portland congressman and his wife, Diana, stopped at the convention on a weekend swing through northern Maine that included a stop at a hunters breakfast in Old Town and a football game in Dexter where Foxcroft Academy trounced the hometown team 54-0.

“It’s important that I reach out to them,” Allen said of his visit to the AFL-CIO convention. “They represent a portion of the middle class in Maine, and as a group, they’ve been a bit more engaged politically on issues in Maine than other groups.”

One hundred delegates representing 15,000 workers around the state gathered at the Ramada Inn to conduct business, elect officers and discuss the issues facing Maine’s working families, Charlie Conley of Waterville, a member of the union’s executive board, said Saturday.

“It’s a chance for us to explore issues and express our solidarity for each other,” he said.

Speakers at the convention included John Richardson, commissioner for economic and community development, and Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman, according to Conley.

Delegates also heard from national experts on the union’s support for a single-payer national health care system and immigration reform, Conley said. Maine workers aren’t as affected by immigration policy as other states are, he said, but the state is not immune from them either.

“Because of homeland security policies,” Conley said, “we have some union people who live in Canada who can’t cross the border to work in the woods. That’s a workers’ rights issue.”

The AFL-CIO is continuing its efforts to organize nonunionized staff at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, he said. Included in that group are certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses.