Troy D. Jackson 130th Legislature Ryan M.

Fecteau
President of the Senate Speaker of the House

Friday, March 12, 2021

Dear Jeff Sanders,

As local elected officials, it is important to express our gratitude to the healthcare workers who
have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to keep the community healthy. We know
healthcare workers advocate for us when we are not able to advocate for ourselves and we
want to express complete solidarity with any and all healthcare workers who seek to improve
patient care conditions.

We have grown concerned at how Maine Medical Center has reacted to registered nurses’
organizing campaign. You recently sent a letter to some of us outlining why you believe nurses
at Maine Med should not unionize. Given that it is the policy of the United States Government
to encourage Collective Bargaining, we were disappointed to see you dismiss the nurses
reasonable and just demands.

As importantly, we are concerned with the reports of administration and anti-union consultants
hired by the hospital mistreating nurses by discouraging them from exercising their rights. We
have heard from nurses about being accosted in one-on-one anti-union meetings, dragged from
patient care to listen to out of state anti-union consultants lecture them on why they should
vote no for the democratic right to negotiate with their employer; and threatened by certain
supervisors that they stand to lose benefits, or employment if they vote yes in the upcoming
election. These nurses and their patients are our constituents. We expect better from the
largest hospital in our state– if you intend to take anything away from RNs—including their
moral and legal right to a free and fair election we will stand with the nurses against any such
attempt.

In your letter you stated: “People who fall within the state CDC guidelines for vaccine will be
scheduled in the order in which they call.” We are disappointed in this statement, as it is quite
obviously not true given the scandal that has surrounded Maine Med in recent weeks. Your
decision to vaccinate out of state anti-union consultants over at-risk Mainers has been correctly
condemned by many. Why has the hospital flouted Maine CDC rules, paid consultants to trick
nurses at a going rate generally around $3,000 dollars per day per anti-union consultant, instead
of simply respecting the nurses right to organize, allowing them a free and fair election? Your
letter claims to respect nurses’ right to organize. In our review of your institution’s choice of
anti-union consultants, literature, behavior, that is objectively untrue. To suggest otherwise is is
disingenuous.
We expect better from our hospital. To repair the damage and restore trust, it is our collective
opinion that the hospital should fire its union busters and take action to ensure that nurses at
the hospital are able to vote freely and without Maine Med administration’s interference. Do
the right thing; fire the consultants and respect RNs federally-protected right to organize.

Thank you,

Sen. Troy Jackson Representative John L. Tuttle, Jr.

Maine Senate President
Senator Eloise Vitelli
Senate Majority Leader
Senator Matthea Daughtry
Assistant Senate Majority Leader
Senator Joe Rafferty
Labor and Housing Committee, Senate Chair
Senator David Miramant
Senator Benjamin Chipman
Representative Allison Hepler
Representative Amy J. Roeder
Representative Ann Higgins Matlack
Representative Anne C. Perry
Representative Benjamin T. Collings
Representative Bruce A. White
Representative Charlotte Warren
Representative Christopher J. Kessler
Representative Christopher James Caiazzo
Representative Colleen M. Madigan
Representative Denise A. Tepler
Representative Donna R. Doore
Representative Erin R. Sheehan
Representative Genevieve McDonald
Representative Gina M. Melaragno
Representative Grayson B. Lookner
Representative Heidi E. Brooks
Representative Janice S. Dodge
Representative Jeffrey Evangelos
Representative Joyce McCreight
Rep. Ryan Fecteau
Maine Speaker of the House
Represenative Michelle Dunphy
House Majority Leader
Representative Rachel Talbot Ross
Assistant House Majority Leader
Representative Michael Sylvester
Labor and Housing Committee, House Chair
Representative Traci Gere
Representative Victoria E. Morales
Representative Victoria W. Doudera
Representative William D. Pluecker
Representative Tiffany . Roberts
Representative Thom Harnett
Representative Tavis Rock Hasenfus
Representative Kevin J. M. O'Connell
Representative Kristi Michele Mathieson
Representative Kyle R. Bailey
Representative Laura D. Supica
Representative Lois Galgay Reckitt
Representative Lori K. Gramlich
Representative Lynn H. Copeland
Representative Lynne A. Williams
Representative Margaret M. O'Neil
Representative Mark E. Bryant
Representative Maureen Fitzgerald Terry
Representative Melanie F. Sachs
Representative Michael F. Brennan
Representative Michele Meyer
Representative Morgan J. Rielly
Representative Poppy Arford
Representative Ralph L. Tucker
Representative Rebecca J. Millett
Representative Roland Danny Martin
Representative Samuel Lewis Zager
Representative Richard A. Evans
Represenative Sarah Pebworth
Representative Scott W. Cuddy
Representative Sean C. Paulhus
Representative Seth A. Berry
Representative Sophia B. Warren
Representative Stanley Paige Zeigler, Jr.
Representative Suzanne M. Salisbury
Representative Tavis Rock Hasenfus