Labor Committee Fails To Act To Support Maine Workers

I would like to take this opportunity to address the editorial I read in yesterdays news. As a small business owner I was not in support of L.D. 1665. I have 6 full time employees and 2 part time. I have been in business for 5 years. The people I work with are extended family. They have 2 weeks paid vacations; paid holidays; Christmas bonuses and health and dental insurance at the cost of $5.00 a week; the rest of the expense is paid by the company. In 5 years I have had my property taxes increase 25%. My oil and propane cost have doubled. My workers comp has increased 25%; though I have never had a claim. To top it off my unemployment rate recently increased from 3.48 to 6.14…though I had not laid anyone off and not due to my experience rating according to the Department of Labor but due to the economy and extended benefits to those who are claiming. Last year my sales were down 15%; the first time we went backwards. Every paid holiday cost this business $1100 in payroll. Thankfully I am not a single parent trying to support my family; because I couldn’t. There are many weeks when I do not take any pay so my co workers may get 40 hours. This is the wrong time economically to even propose such an expense on already struggling businesses-small or large. I would love to be able to provide more for my crew, but it is not feasible. Business owners need to make their own policies and enforce them as needed to fit their specific needs. If this were to have passed I would have simply removed one of the existing beneifits. When you run your own business and lay awake at night worrying about your future and how to keep people employeed and able to provide for their families you may have an opinion on this subject that I am interested in….but I had the distinct impression that I was reading an editorial by someone who collects a paycheck, not creates one. Big difference.