Maine’s Labor History
We will explore the story of workers and working in Maine, with emphasis on the incidents depicted in the Labor Mural commissioned for and on display at the Maine Department of Labor in Augusta.

Bio:
Leslie Manning is the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Labor Standards for the Maine Department of Labor.  The Bureau has responsibility for ensuring the safe and fair treatment of all Maine workers, and enforces Maine’s labor laws.  Prior to her work at the Bureau, Leslie was a field representative for Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), responsible for negotiating, administering and enforcing collective bargaining agreements in the public and private sectors.  In addition, Leslie has served as a health and safety officer for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on the West Coast.

 Leslie has taught labor history and employee relations at a number of venues, including Union Summer Schools and Leadership Development Institutes for union women.  Her focus in this presentation will be on Maine’s unique labor history, with an emphasis on the events and situations depicted in the recently completed mural now installed at the Department of Labor’s Augusta headquarters.  These eleven panels are a visual timeline of Maine’s industries and workers, from the significance of apprenticeship to the influence of foreign-born workers and immigrants in Maine’s current economy.   This presentation will involve story, song and the visual arts as a record of Maine and its’ workers over the last 300 years.