Union workers and retirees met recently with two guest speakers, Lincoln County Democratic candidates Chris Johnson for State Senate and Joel Pitcher for State House, to discuss concerns about changes made by the current administration to undermine middle-class workers.

The evening started with union members voicing concerns about attacks on workers under the current administration and citing laws passed in the last 2 years that are pushing people out of the middle class. To another point, one member spoke of the dangers of folks lowering their expectations, saying, “At one point we expected fair wages that enable us to own a modest home, provide for our children and their education, and have a little left over for retirement.

Now we are being asked to settle for so much less just enough to get by; and if we don't accept that, someone else will. We are losing our healthcare, losing our retirement benefits, losing our choices, needing to make untold sacrifices and losing our dignity.”

In responding, Senator Johnson mentioned that Maine’s problems are not due solely to the many mill jobs shipped overseas, but to a lack of vision regarding new opportunities. Johnson has long been aware of the trend and, as senator has been advocating investments in research and innovation that will provide business opportunities supporting good-paying jobs for years to come.

Johnson said, “It's not a matter of competing for who has the cheapest labor with third-world countries. That is a race to the bottom.

“We need to be investing in research and development, helping companies explore better products to make, better processes for making them, and new technologies that will enable us to find better ways to get things done. That along with us supporting Maine's existing industries will provide good business opportunities and support good paying jobs.”

Johnson is a strong proponent of providing high quality education, and investing in modernizing our infrastructure, two fundamental factors for the economic strength of our state and Maine's families.

In introducing himself to the group, Joel Pitcher, running for the State House for District 50, explained how he came to realize how much politics matter in everyone's lives, and of his commitment to fight to protect Maine's middle class.

Pitcher went on to cite sections of the Platform of the 2012 Republican National Convention, pointing out the many positions that were contrary to workers' rights and fair pay. He went on to say that when workers are not earning enough to make ends meet, they often need to rely on other sources of income, such as welfare and food stamps, so companies benefit from paying low wages, workers suffer, as taxpayers become responsible for providing safety nets. Pitcher works at Bath Iron Works as a machinist and is a union officer.

Johnson went on to explain further how Maine's lower than average wages hurt Maine families in relation to tax burden, stating that the state and local taxes per person in Maine is low compared to most of New England, just slightly above New Hampshire. “One big problem is that our wages are lower, making taxes as a percentage of income higher than average,” Johnson said.

“The other big problem is the poorest fifth of Mainers pay a much larger percentage of their income in state and local taxes (17 percent) compared the richest 1 percent (paying less than 10 percent).

“So the issues are not that we're spending too much on state and local government, but that people are not earning enough, and the richest 1 percent are not paying their fair share.”

The group discussed other legislation that has hurt them or family members, such as cuts to HeadStart, cuts to drug benefits for the elderly, changes to Worker's Compensation that severely curtail benefits paid to any worker who is injured on the job in the future.

Another topic on people's minds was the current administration's efforts to privatize government functions, in particular, Maine's state prison. One attendee expressed the view that the administration's plan is to underfund and under-staff prisons until they fail, and then point to privatization as the solution.

As the guest speakers' time was drawing to a close, Pitcher stressed the role that everyone present had in fixing the problems they saw, and the importance of every voter taking part in the democratic process. He illustrated this point when he told of visiting tribal communities where democracy was non-existent during his tours of service in the military, and of the lives people lived under such systems. Pitcher made clear his commitment to restoring trust in government by serving his constituents well, because he understands that politics matters to our everyday lives.

For more information about the candidates, visit www.senatorchrisjohnson.org or Pitcher's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pitcher4me.