AUGUSTA, Maine — The House of Representatives on Friday defeated the latest bill designed to make Maine a “right-to-work” state.

The bill, LD 489, was defeated in a 90-52 vote, with a handful of Republicans joining majority Democrats in rejecting the bill.

It was the latest effort by State House Republicans to weaken unions by preventing organized labor from collecting representation fees from employees covered by collective bargaining agreements who chose not to join the unions.

Right-to-work bills often are described as efforts to ensure no worker is forced to join a union, but that’s not exactly correct. The federal Taft-Hartley Act already prohibits “closed shops,” in which employees are required to join unions.

However, in Maine, as in 24 other states, employees who benefit from collective bargaining can be required to pay a smaller fee to the union that represents them, even if they choose not to become dues-paying members of the union. Those fees are not used to pay for political activity, and labor officials say they are necessary to prevent nonunion workers from free riding.

“It costs money to negotiate contracts, to service grievances and arbitration, to service the collective bargaining agreement,” Rep. Ralph Tucker, D-Brunswick, said. “Although no one is obligated to join the union as a full members, service fees can and should be charged.”

Proponents of the right-to-work legislation — such as bill sponsor Rep. Larry Lockman, R-Amherst — said employees should not be forced to make payments to a private organization they don’t want to support.

“The underlying principle is personal freedom and individual liberty,” Lockman said Friday. “It’s time for Maine to set its workers free from compulsory unionism.”

An effort backed by Republican Gov. Paul LePage to establish Maine as a so-called “right-to-work” state failed during the Republican-controlled 125th Legislature. Given the rejections of the bill in the Democrat-controlled House on Friday, the proposal is all but certainly doomed again.