Speaking of Maine and the state senate, the Maine senate voted 20-13 last week to kill a bill that would have required a union ratification vote every two years in union workplaces. The bill, LD 1553, would have mandated that union workers ratify their collective bargaining representation by secret ballot every other year. In addition, under the proposal, filed by Senator Andre Cushing, any union that did not receive a majority in a representation election would be decertified and the employees could choose a new union at any time. Senator Cushing said he filed the bill because too many workers in Maine are forced to pay union dues when they’d rather not be union members.