SKOWHEGAN, Maine — Friends and families gathered at the Turner Poulin Union Hall in Skowhegan on Sunday to enjoy some barbecue and celebrate what Labor Day weekend means to them.
"It's a time that we carve out to celebrate workers and the contributions that they have made to our daily lives," Patrick Wynne, president of the Central Maine Labor Council, said.
The council has been hosting the event for several years now, and Wynne said it has allowed him and other council members to meet with union workers they represent throughout the Kennebec Valley region.
"It's energizing to be surrounded by these folks," he said. "They are the workforce. They are the ones who have the strength and the energy to create jobs, fill jobs, do the jobs."
Justin Shawe is a union worker himself. He's also president of United Steelworkers Local 9.
"We have roughly 480 members in my unit," Shawe said.
He and his fellow union members are in the midst of contract negotiations with their employers at a paper mill just down the road. Shawe said the negotiation process can often be time-consuming as he and other union workers spend weeks figuring out the most important topics they want to discuss with mill managers.
"The goal at the end of the day is the best package for our membership, safe working environments, and safe schedules," Shawe said.
Shawe said one of the things they are focusing on most is the adjustment of 24-hour shift schedules. According to him, those long hours make it difficult for many of his fellow mill workers to fulfill other responsibilities outside of their jobs.
"It's more the time off and having the ability to be home when your spouse is home to care for the children," he explained.
While the negotiations may be stressful for the union workers, Shawe said events like these remind him there's other labor activists around the state advocating too, like Cynthia Phinney.
Phinney is the president of the Maine AFL-CIO, an organization dedicated to helping union workers throughout the state connect with legislators who can support them.
"It can seem like something that's so far away, but you come to an event like this, and you get to meet the person that you elected, that represents you," Phinney said.
While everyone sat together enjoying hamburgers, hotdogs, and chips, Phinney and others at the event said they will continue to support any union workers who need it.
"We have big arms and we're ready to give everybody a hug," Wynne said. "So anybody who is out there working, you have a family here."
Organizers say union workers in southern Maine will also have an opportunity to connect with labor activists at the Southern Maine Labor Council Breakfast on Sept. 2. The event begins at 8 a.m. at the Irish Heritage Center in Portland.