We need to create new jobs, but taking away the voice of Maine’s working people won’t help us do that.

On Dec. 1, I was honored to be sworn in as the representative of the people of Senate District 14 in Augusta. The most important part of my job is to make sure that the voices of my constituents, the mill workers, the waitresses, the contractors, the doctors, and everyone in between, are heard throughout the halls and taken into account before important decisions are made. That job will be made much more difficult if the new Republican majority follows through with its plan to eliminate the state’s Labor Committee.

The Labor Committee is where the voices of the working people of Maine are heard, a place for mill workers who want a fair shot to earn a good living as their families have done for generations. A place for older workers who are afraid they’ll be pushed out of their jobs to cut costs. A place for small business owners who work hard to provide fair wages and benefits to their employees, only to see their balance sheet grow tighter because of unfair competition.

Maine’s working people come to the Labor Committee because it is the only committee that exists solely to listen to them. These families need a place to be heard where their voices are equal to the voices of businesses. They need a place to be heard where both workers and employers can get fair hearings. While working people and business owners may not always agree, they have a powerful common goal to create jobs, grow our economy, and provide a better life for their children.

As a former member of the Labor Committee I am proud of its record of working with employees and business owners to find solutions and fix problems. The committee has a solid record of bringing Republicans and Democrats together to solve problems; in the last five years over 100 bills were approved unanimously by the committee. The committee has worked so well that it has drawn praise from a stalwart ally of businesses: the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. In its newsletter wrapping up the legislative session, the Chamber said: “… a number of the most contentious pieces of legislation (in the Labor Committee) ended up favorably for the business community.” The chamber added, “We think the 2010 Joint Standing Committee on Labor should be commended for their work and understanding.”

Some have said that eliminating the Labor Committee and transferring its workload to the Business, Research, and Economic Development Committee will allow everyone to be heard more fairly. This is not true; eliminating the Labor Committee will add a large and complicated workload to an already overburdened committee. With the new committee overloaded by complexity and sheer numbers of new bills, it is the voices of Maine’s workers that will be lost in the shuffle.

The truth is that the elimination of the Labor Committee has more to do with politics and office space and less to do with making government more responsive to working people. After swearing in their new majority, the Senate Republicans claimed that their new, larger staff needed more office space and that they planned to take over a committee room for their use. The same day, in a completely unrelated move, they announced a plan to look at eliminating the Labor Committee.

I came to Augusta to make sure that the people of Maine’s voices are heard. The people of Maine have said they want government to be more efficient and responsive, and I fully intend to support that. But I won’t support eliminating a vital committee for purely political reasons.

During the recent campaigns, Republicans pledged to “put people before politics.” It’s a worthy pledge and it is one that I support. Unfortunately, their stated plans to eliminate the Labor Committee will cause them to break their pledge before the new year even starts.

Rep. John Patrick is the Democratic senator from Oxford County and served on the Labor Committee during the 121^st Legislature.