MSEA-SEIU Local 1989's Executive Director Resigns

The executive director of the Maine State Employees Association/SEIU Local 1989, Tim Belcher, has resigned after 20 years of service to the 15,000-member organization.

Members serving on MSEA-SEIU’s board of directors voted to accept Belcher’s resignation at a special meeting last night (Thursday, September 24) in Augusta. Belcher, 54, had served as MSEA-SEIU’s executive director since June 2005, and previously served as the local union’s general counsel for 10 years, and as a staff attorney for five years before that. “We have built a good, strong working team of elected leaders, members, SEIU’s public services staff, and our own staff, and together we worked to figure out how to adapt MSEA-SEIU to our changing circumstances,” Belcher said. Among the breakthroughs for MSEA-SEIU members cited by Belcher during his years on the leadership team:

• As General Counsel, working with guidance from the SEIU Legal Department, negotiated an expedited arbitration process between employees and state government, which speeds the process and fosters a more constructive outcome for member by focusing on the important issues.
• By building the best union staff in New England, delivered greater responsiveness to member inquiries and concerns, and improved the quality of representation the union delivers in collective bargaining.
• Implemented the recently negotiated Fair Share agreement, requiring non-members to pay towards the cost of representational work, by defending the union’s interests, while at the same time responding to legitimate concerns raised by the non-members.
• With help of the SEIU, the union won a unanimous decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on a narrow free speech issue related to the fair share payments, a rare pro-labor ruling by the high court
• United approximately 2,200 publicly funded workers such as in-home child care and home care providers together with traditional government employees for greater strength
• A law making retiree health benefits a contractual right protected by the Contract Clause of the U.S, which Belcher dubs “our least understood accomplishment.”

Speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors, President Bruce Hodsdon expressed regret at Belcher’s resignation, stating that “Tim served the union well for 20 years, his history and experience with MSEA-SEIU will be sorely missed, as will his commitment to the members of MSEA-SEIU and to the labor movement as a whole. However the Board of Directors accepted Belcher’s belief that after twenty years, it was time for a change.”