More than One in Seven Working Mainers Will Receive Pay Raise Tomorrow

The voter-approved minimum wage increase takes effect tomorrow, increasing wages for 74,000 Mainers. Nearly 30,000 additional Maine workers are expected to receive a raise this year as […]

Increasing the minimum wage to $12 will raise the annual pay of 93,000 Maine women by an average of $3,200

This November, Mainers will vote on an initiative that would gradually raise Maine’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020. The effects of the […]

Workers in low income families are most likely to get a raise (bar chart)

Mainers’ personal income growth third slowest in the nation; are big businesses to blame?

Since the Great Recession, Mainers’ personal incomes have grown at a slower rate than residents of nearly every other state, according to a new Pew Research Center […]

New overtime rules will finally pay workers what they deserve

Every week, thousands of Mainers work overtime—more than 40 hours per week—to make ends meet. Many workers, even after working 50 to 60 hours per week, still […]

Distribution of adults by income tier (%) in Maine's major labor markets (table)

Income inequality and provision of public services a matter of life and death

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association offers further evidence of the effects of income inequality on health and well-being.  Using data […]

Economic Data Tell Consistent Story that Maine’s Recovery is Far From Complete

Despite the recent fanfare about Maine’s low headline employment rate, the state’s economy has still not fully recovered from the effects of the Great Recession, some eight […]

Testimony to the United States International Trade Commission opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

MECEP’s written testimony to the US International Trade Commission on how the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement detracts from the economic stability of Maine’s hard-working families. Specifically they exacerbate wage […]

Testimony in opposition to LD 1553, “An Act to Improve the Workers’ Compensation System”

“The bill under consideration would remove the voice of Mainers from any future changes to the determination of employee status for workers’ compensation purposes.  That determination, and […]