About the author

Tony Zeli

Tony Zeli has been publisher and editor of The West End News since 2014. He has a background in media, advocacy, and community organizing. Contact him at thewestendnews@gmail.com.

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4 Comments

  1. Michael Jay Anthony

    why did mako water down the 15 now initiative and sell out tipped workers, predominantly women? does he not believe in the people of portland, or that tipped workers and women are worth as much as everyone else?

    a simple conversation with 15 Now Maine who got this effort started last year, about the feedback we were getting in our outreach and canvassing would have settled a lot of the anxieties around pushing for a more hard line initiative.

    the 500 employee small business definition is completely out of touch with maine’s local economy. 15 Now Maine had agreed on a 50 employee definition. And selling out tipped workers is arbitrary and offensive. Abolish the tip credit, the single most significant result of wage theft, and workers rights violations in Maine.

    bottom line, talking with workers in the streets last year, we determined that our radical goals were not radical enough for portlands workers. They wanted more, and they wanted it now. Instead the greens gave us less, and arbitrary delays.

    If the greens did more foot work, had more conversations, and worked with 15 Now Maine as equals, instead of hijacking the movement we started, then together we could have built a stronger more popular grassroots initiative.

    solidarity pays.

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