Bangor - Made in Maine is a symbol of pride for many in our state.

A group gathered at the federal building in Bangor this morning to show congressional leaders why that trademark needs federal protection.

Joy Hollowell explains...

====
"What do we want? Jobs.

When do we want them? Now.

Those words were chanted at the Federal Building in downtown Bangor Monday. Linda Fairbrother was among the group of United Steel Workers and other community members. Fairbrother is no stranger to out sourcing. She lost her job in the shoe industry a few years back to it, then watched as family members at a local automotive parts company not only got laid off, but then had to travel to mexico to train their replacements.

"If we don't have these good jobs, we can't contribute to the economy," says Fairbrother. "If I'm working for minimum wage, I don't have money to spent, I'm just going to be getting by."

Fairbrother and others are asking congressional leaders to support the Bring Jobs Home act.

"This bill would take away the tax incentive for moving jobs away from Maine and the rest of the country and actually reward companies that are doing the right thing by bringing the jobs back home," explains Daniel Lawson, also a member of USW.

The group presented a basket of Maine made products to the offices of Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and Congressman Mike Michaud. It included New Balance sneakers made in Norridgewock, Nissan baked goods, and Chinet from the Hutamaki plant in Waterville.

"It's very discouraging to know that no matter how hard we work, we can't do anything about keeping good jobs unless our legislators do something about it," says Fairbrother.

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the Bring Jobs Home bill after the July 4th recess.

For more information, log onto www.america wants to work.org

Print this Story