The 125th state of Maine Legislature is officially in recess. The Republican-led Legislature was elected with a clear mandate of improving the Maine economy and creating quality jobs here at home. Instead, the Legislature followed an agenda attacking workers’ rights in Maine.

LD 1913, the workers’ compensation bill, was a bill written by and for insurance companies. Workers’ compensation is an insurance paid for by companies and workers to provide a safety net in the event that something dreadful happens. That bill significantly jeopardizes the safety net in the name of insurance company profits.

The attack continued, through passage of the unemployment bill LD 1725, the stripping of collective bargaining rights of workers at DeCoster factory farms, of daycare workers, and the still pending “so-called” public sector right-to-work bill, LD 309.

In today’s economy, with workers struggling to keep their heads above water, the state Legislature should be aimed at making people’s lives better. I watched insurance and Chamber of Commerce lobbyists successfully placing profits ahead of people.

Legislation yielding quality jobs with decent wages should be the focus of the state Legislature and of the governor. Instead, the legacy of the 125th Maine Legislature will be one of attacks, not solutions. None of those bills will produce a single job, or better the state’s economy in any way.

Gov. Paul LePage was elected and quoted as saying it was time we put “people before politics.” It is too bad they did exactly the opposite.

Peter Keefe, Poland

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