Maine AFL-CIO

09/02/2026

Great turn out for our Team Troy canvassing training! Workers are fired up to elect Troy Jackson & send Susan Collins to retirement!

09/01/2026

Solidarity!

Hands-on staff make 20% less per hour than classroom faculty.

09/01/2026

"How could the largest rail yard in New England have no one in charge? How can South Portland Fire have no single point of contact with someone that's actually on the property?" said Dave Stevenson, the New England legislative director for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.

The union's demands for more staffing come in the wake of two CSX train derailments in the last month, including one in Orono and another in Worcester, Massachusetts.

08/31/2026

Labor Day is our time to join together in the spirit of solidarity, celebrate working people and continue our fight for freedom, fairness and economic security. On Labor Day weekend Central Labor Councils will be holding events full of food, music and inspiring speakers in Portland, Skowhegan and Brewer. This year we are excited to announce that AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler will be the special guest at the Eastern Maine Labor Council's Annual Labor Day Celebration on Monday, Sept. 7!

We encourage you to come out to one or more of these fun Labor Day celebrations to connect with fellow Mainers and union members and celebrate the true meaning of the holiday!

Labor Day is our time to join together in the spirit of solidarity, celebrate working people and continue our fight for freedom, fairness and economic security. On Labor Day weekend Central Labor Councils will be holding events full of food, music and inspiring speakers in Portland, Skowhegan and Br...

08/30/2026

Senator Susan Collins has released a new ad featuring a wealthy former hospital lobbyist praising the five-term Senator’s record on health care.

During his career, former Maine Hospital Association President Steven Michaud pulled in $600,000 a year lobbying on behalf of hospitals but not always in the patient’s interest.

Over the years, the Maine Hospital Association (MHA) has lobbied against various bills to require safe nurse patient ratios in hospitals and control the skyrocketing cost of health care among other pro-patient reforms.

PHOTO: Susan Collins with former Maine Hospital Association President Steven Michaud

08/29/2026

Labor Day in Portland!

Limiting seating is still available @ $25/ticket. Email [email protected] and join us for the *official* start to Labor Day!

08/28/2026

Labor singer/song writer Joe Uehlein will be performing at the Space Gallery at 538 Congress St. in Portland on Thursday, September 17 from 6-8 pm.

After decades organizing from within the labor movement, Joe Uehlein realized that winning real climate and economic justice meant moving beyond the limits of traditional labor and environmentalism. As former secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO’s Industrial Division and director of the AFL-CIO's Center for Strategic Campaigns, Joe fought from the inside. But in 2005, he stepped away from the AFL-CIO to found the Labor Network for Sustainability, forging deep alliances between labor, climate, and environmental movements. His vision: transform the labor movement to embrace ecological responsibility—and environmentalism to uplift working-class solidarity.

But Joe’s work has never been confined to boardrooms or picket lines. With a guitar in hand, he’s shared stages with Pete Seeger and Tom Morello, turning songs into rallying cries and stories into tools for resistance. In our latest, we're excited to talk with legendary labor and climate organizer Joe Uehlein about his new memoir that details his life's work of labor organizing, climate organizing and music.

08/27/2026

Rail union leaders with SMART-TD Local 1400, U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson, Southern Maine Labor Council President Jason Shedlock & rail safety advocate Joyce Mendoza call on rail company CSX to improve rail safety on its freight lines in southern and central Maine.

08/27/2026

Maine AFL-CIO Statement on Election Intimidation

On August 26, the Associated Press reported that gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles said he would call on White House border czar Tom Homan to deploy ICE agents at Maine polling locations ahead of November’s elections. In response, Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney released the following statement:

08/26/2026

You may have heard of Project 2025, but did you know anti-labor activists have developed a Project 2026-type policy blueprint to break unions, eliminate healthcare for thousands of Mainers and abolish taxes on the wealthy and corporations?

The anti-labor Maine Policy Institute (MPI), which runs the Maine Wire, has released a Project 2026-type policy blueprint to break unions, eliminate healthcare for thousands of Mainers and abolish taxes on the wealthy and corporations.