An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Agricultural Marketing and Bargaining
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1282
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: MARTIN, BENNETT, SMITH, STANLEY, FISCHER, JACKSON, JOY
Amends: 7 MRSA §1091, 7 MRSA §1092, 7 MRSA §1093, 13 MRSA §1958-B

Legislative Document 
No. 1282 
S.P.413 
In Senate, March 11, 2003 
An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Agricultural Marketing and 
Bargaining 
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator MARTIN of Aroostook. 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Cosponsored by Senator BENNETT of Oxford, Representative SMITH of Van Buren and 
Senator: STANLEY of Penobscot, Representatives: BENNETT of Caribou, FISCHER of 
Presque Isle, JACKSON of Fort Kent, JOY of Crystal. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 7 MRSA §1091, as amended by PL 1987, c. 384, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
§1091. 
Dues and fair share fees 
For purposes of this section, "fair share fee" means the fee 
deducted by a dealer or processor from a nonmember producer. 
The 
fair share fee must be used to defray the costs incurred by a 
recognized collective bargaining unit in fulfilling its duty to 
represent 
producers 
in their 
relations 
with 
the 
dealer 
or 
processor. 
The fair share fee 
may not exceed the 
standard 
initiation fee, membership dues and general assessments of the 
collective bargaining unit. 
If a member of an 
association as defined in Title 13, 
section 1774, subsection 3 makes a written assignment of dues to 
that association, those dues shall must be paid out of funds due 
or to become due to that member for any farm product produced or 
to be produced by that member, or for any services performed or 
to 
be 
performed 
by that 
member 
in the 
production of 
farm 
products. 
Any person who 
accepts or receives the product or 
services 
from 
the 
member 
is bound by that assignment after 
receiving written notice from the association or from the member, 
and that person shall withhold the assigned dues from amounts 
payable by him that person to the member thereafter during the 
period of the assessment. 
Nonmember producers who supply farm products to dealers or 
processors who 
are subject to collective bargaining must 
be 
assessed an association fair share fee of 
75"-b of the amount 
charged to members as dues. 
This assessment must be collected in 
the Same manner as member dues. 
Sec. 2. 7 MRSA §1092, as amended by PL 1987, c. 384, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
§1092. 
Assignment 
No provision whieh ~ 
is inserted in any contract or other 
instrument that is prepared by a dealer or processor whieh ~ 
makes an assignment of the dues or fair share fees described in 
section 1091 ineffective is valid. 
An assignment of dues or fair share fees may not exceed 1 "-b 
of the total value of the product or services delivered by the 
member to the dealer or processor. 
Sec. 3. 7 MRSA §1093, as repealed and replaced by PL 1987, c. 
384, §3, is amended to read: 
§1093. 
Remittance of dues and fair share fees; accounting 
1. 
Sale of fan. products. 
Subject to subsection 3, 
a 
dealer or processor shall, on or before the 15th day of each 
month, 
pay to 
an association all dues 
and fair 
share fees 
assigned to the association pursuant to section 1091 with respect 
to farm products received from members and nonmembers by the 
dealer or processor during the preceding calendar month. 
At the 
time of each monthly payment of dues and fair share fees, the 
dealer or processor shall provide to the association a summary 
statement showing, for each member and nonmember, the quantity of 
farm 
products 
received, 
the 
payment 
due 
to 
the 
member 
and 
nonmember for those farm products prior to the deduction of dues 
or fair share fees and the amount of dues or fair share fees 
deducted therefrom pursuant to the assignment. 
2. 
Perfon.ance of fan. services. 
Subject to subsection 3, 
a dealer or processor shall, on or before the 15th day of each 
month, 
pay to 
an association all dues 
and fair share fees 
assigned to the association pursuant to section 1091 with respect 
to services performed by members and nonmembers in the production 
of farm products 
wh~eh ~ 
were received by the dealer or 
processor during the preceding calendar month. 
At the time of 
each monthly payment of dues and fair share fees, the dealer or 
processor shall provide to the association a summary statement 
showing, 
for each member and nonmember, 
the quantity of farm 
products for which services were performed and the amount of dues 
or fair share fees deducted therefrom pursuant to the assignment. 
3. 
Flat rate dues and fair share fees deductions. 
In the 
event 
that 
the 
dues 
and 
fair 
share 
fees 
assigned 
to 
the 
association pursuant to section 1091 are not calculated on the 
quantity of 
farm 
products 
sold or 
tendered 
by 
members 
and 
nonmembers to the dealer or processor, the dealer or processor 
shall pay the dues 
and fair 
share fees 
to the association 
according to the payment schedule contained in the assignment. 
No payment schedule may require the payment of assigned dues gnQ 
fair share fees more frequently than once a month. 
Sec. 4. 13 MRSA §1958-B, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 
155, §15, is amended to read: 
2. 
Required mediation. 
Any matters 
rema~n~ng in dispute 
between the handler and a qualified association 30 days prior to 
the contract date, as defined in subsection 4, shall must be 
submitted by the parties to required mediation. 
No later than 30 
days prior to the contract date, the parties shall ~ 
have 
mutually agreed 
on 
a 
mediator 
and 
on 
sharing the 
costs of 
mediation or sha~~ ~ 
have notified the board that the services 
of the State's Panel of Mediators will be needed. 
If services of 
the State's Panel of Mediators are used, the parties shall share 
all costs of mediation equally. Mediation sha~~ may not continue 
for Be more than 3 consecutive days 
for annual crops; all other 
commodities 
sha~~ may not last Be more than 5 days, unless the 
mediator earlier declares that resolution by mediation is not 
possible. 
Mediation may be extended by mutual agreement by the 
bargaining parties. 
At the end of the mediation period or upon 
the mediator's earlier declaration, the mediator shall promptly 
prepare a report specifying all agreements reached in mediation 
and recommending that the parties either resume bargaining as to 
all matters remaining in dispute for a period of time not to 
exceed 2 days or that the parties submit all matters remaining in 
dispute to arbitration. 
The parties shall proceed according to 
the mediator's recommendation. 
If the parties are to 
resume 
bargaining, that bargaining sha~~ ~ 
commence on the day after 
the day on which the mediator makes his the recommendation. 
Any 
matters 
rema~n~ng in 
dispute 
at 
the 
end 
of 
the 
specified 
bargaining period sha~~ must be submitted to arbitration. 
Sec. 5. 13 MRSA §1958-B, sub-§5, 1[1[A and D, as repealed and 
replaced by PL 1989, c. 703, §2, are amended to read: 
A. 
For all matters submitted to arbitration, the arbitrator 
shall 
eheese--ae~weeB issue 
a 
decision that resolves the 
matter or matters in a manner that is egual to or within the 
parameters of either of the final offers of the parties. 
If 
the 
parties 
reach 
an 
agreement 
on 
the 
matters 
under 
arbitration before the arbitrator issues a decision, they 
may submit a joint final offer that the arbitrator shall 
accept and render as the decision. The arbitrator may hold 
hearings 
and 
administer 
oaths, 
examine 
witnesses 
and 
documents, 
take testimony and receive evidence r 
and issue 
subpoenas to compel 
the attendance of witnesses 
and the 
production of records. 
A person who fails to obey the 
subpoena of an arbitrator may be punished for contempt of 
court on application by the arbitrator to the Superior Court 
for the county in which the failure occurs. 
The arbitrator 
may utilize other information in addition to that provided 
by or elicited from the parties. 
The arbitrator shall issue 
a decision within 10 days of the commencement of arbitration 
and that decision shall-ae is binding on the parties. 
If 
the parties 
reach 
an 
agreement 
on 
the matters 
in 
the 
arbitrator's decision prior to signing the contract, they 
may 
submit 
a 
joint final offer to the arbitrator. 
The 
arbitrator shall rescind the previous decision and accept 
and render the joint final offer as the decision. 
D. 
Upon notification by the parties as provided in this 
subsection, the commissioner shall submit to the parties a 
list containing an odd number of names of members of the 
panel of arbitrators who 
are available for the specific 
pending arbitration and have expressed 
a 
willingness to 
serve. 
The parties shall alternately strike names from the 
list until a single name is left, who shall-Be will serve as 
the 
arbitrator. 
The 
order 
of 
striking 
names 
must 
be 
determined by chance. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes the following changes to the laws governing 
agricultural marketing and bargaining. 
1. 
It specifies that mediation of 
handler and the qualified association may 
than 3 consecutive days for annual crops. 
disputes between the 
not continue for more 
2. 
It requires that, for matters submitted to arbitration, 
the arbitrator issue a decision that resolves the matter in a 
manner that is equal to either one of the final offers of the 
parties or within the parameters of either one of the final 
offers of the parties. 
3. 
It requires that the list of arbitrators submitted 
contain the names of only those arbitrators who are available for 
the specific pending arbitration and have expressed a willingness 
to serve. 
4. 
It assesses on nonmember producers an association fair 
share fee of 75% of the amount charged to members as fees.