PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 26, 2022
State lawmakers failed Wednesday to override Gov. Janet Mills’ veto of a bill that would have allowed farmworkers to form unions. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Thom Harnett, D-Gardiner, would have allowed workers at farms with five or more employees to unionize and collectively bargain wages and working conditions, even if those workers are seasonal or part-time. Mills vetoed the bill on Jan. 7, saying it would require many small farms to engage in a complicated and costly process of collective bargaining. She noted how farmers, whose longstanding financial struggles have been exacerbated by the pandemic, are now contending with droughts and soil that may be contaminated with PFAS pollutants, known as forever chemicals.