The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Dick Rogers of West Gardiner is a nearly 40-year employee in the utility industry and was business manager for IBEW 1837 for nearly 10 years representing approximately 1,600 workers in Maine and New Hampshire.
Having worked in the utility industry for nearly 40 years and having served as the business manager for IBEW Local 1837 representing approximately 1,600 workers in Maine and New Hampshire, I was shocked to learn that the Maine Legislature is considering LD 1963, An Act to Protect and Compensate Public Utility Whistleblowers.
That’s why I’m blowing a whistle of my own.
While the name of this bill might be appealing to some, I think this legislation is actually a slap in the face to Maine’s workers. The bill creates new workplace standards that I believe risk undermining communication, transparency, trust, and so many other important union and workplace values.
First, LD 1963 would establish a compensation scheme that would create financial incentives for whistleblowers. Programs like these have long been controversial because they can promote speculation, incomplete reporting, and false accusations against other employees.
Next, this bill would eliminate requirements for employees who have identified workplace concerns to first report these problems to their employer. There are a lot of good reasons to notify an employer of a problem first, especially at utility companies. With so many complex policies and projects, a worker may inadvertently misinterpret lawful work as noncompliant.
A bill like this may create workplace conditions that could, for example, encourage a utility worker operating around high-voltage equipment to seek a payout rather than immediately reporting a dangerous situation that could kill their colleague, a member of the public, or cause serious damage to the electrical system more broadly.
That’s not something anyone working 50 feet in the air or inches away from high-voltage equipment should have on their mind. We should be empowering utility workers to work with —not against — each other and their employers to identify and prevent real issues. The principle of “see something, say something” has always been part of our industry’s culture and, I believe, allows for better communication and increased accountability at all levels, from apprentice to CEO. Instead, this legislation encourages employees to not report problems to their employer, bypass their chains of command, and may allow problems to fester by adding new layers of bureaucracy.
To that point, we should also take a moment to recognize our state already added utility employee protections barring retaliation by employers within the past several years. LD 1959, the utility accountability bill approved by the Maine Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills in 2022, very clearly states that employees have a right to provide testimony before the Maine Public Utilities Commission, a legislative committee, or the Office of the Public Advocate. This law also requires utilities to notify employees of these rights and contains several other substantial protections.
What will we gain besides hours of wasted time and effort debating this same exact issue yet again three years later? Nothing. I say this confidently because I have already seen utility employees testify before the Maine Public Utilities Commission on workplace issues and face no retaliation from their employer.
Supervisors at utility companies want their employees to return home safely and feeling supported after long hours performing difficult tasks. Many companies in Maine, including my former employer, Central Maine Power, invest heavily in programs that support workers who want to do the right thing, even when that means speaking up. That includes staffing full-time compliance officers, anonymous tip lines, annual training programs, and internal monitoring and auditing.
I believe these checks and balances are already working to protect both union and non-union employees.
I strongly oppose this legislation for the many issues it will create. We also must remember that Maine already has strong and rigorous whistleblower protections in place covering employees in all industries.
As someone who has proudly spent decades working for Maine’s largest utility, I can say that this legislation won’t solve problems — it will create new ones.
