Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §595-A is enacted to read:

§595-A.__Contracts between employers and replacement workers

If any business operating in this State enters into an agreement with individuals or groups of employees by which they are to replace lawfully striking employees who regularly perform the majority of their work in this State, the agreement must provide that when the strike is settled or if the striking employees offer unconditionally to return to work, those replacement workers will not be retained by the business in preference to the strikers.__The replacement workers may be given only post-strike rights that do not detract from the claims of the striking employees to return to their previous positions.__Any agreement, written or oral, express or implied, inconsistent with this section is not binding to the extent that it differs from this section.

SUMMARY

This bill repeals the provisions in current law that attempt to restrict an employer's right to hire replacement workers during a labor dispute. Superior Court Chief Justice Morton A. Brody declared those provisions were preempted by the National Labor Relations Act in 1989. The bill retains only those provisions that relate directly to deterrence of violence during a labor dispute.

The bill also requires that a contract between an employer and replacement workers must provide that when the strike is settled or if the employees offer unconditionally to return to work the replacement workers will not be retained in preference to the strikers.