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.