Associated Press file In this Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, photo, a worker rakes wild blueberries at a farm in Union, Maine.
Agricultural workers in Maine would be allowed to form a union to bargain for wages, benefits and working conditions under a bill before the Legislature’s Labor Committee. But it drew opposition from several Maine farmers who say it could put them out of business.
Historically, agriculture workers in Maine, and in most of the country, have not been allowed to unionize. But Gardiner Democrat Rep. Thom Hartnett is sponsoring legislation that would change that.
“Farm workers who travel thousands of miles from their homes to feed us deserve nothing less than the legal protections afforded to all other working people,” he said.
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Maine courts begin posting records online, but fees are seen as barrier to access
Right now, the public must pay $1 per page just to view a document online, a cost that can quickly add up for a lengthy filing.
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Maine courts have finally started to shift records online, but the fees for viewing electronic records could be a barrier to public access.
The first 300 cases, a tiny fraction of the eventual volume, have been filed in the state’s new electronic system. Right now, the public must pay $1 per page just to view a document online, a cost that can quickly add up for a lengthy filing. That rate matches the current fee to make copies of a document at a courthouse, although anybody can look at a paper file in person at no cost.