To the editor:
I’m angry. I grew up in Aroostook County and remember having to only imagine what the rest of the world (from away) must have looked like. Getting cable television changed all of that the first time I saw a Chicago news broadcast. With the Internet being almost everywhere now, I am sure young people are much more in tune with what lays beyond the border at Houlton.
I came back to the county to go to school at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. I had a pleasant experience, made some life-long friends and learned a great deal about myself. While the myth of the college degree promises successes and stability, I quickly realized that none of those things would be easily won if I remained in The County. I had no idea as to how correct I really was.
I will never forget sitting in an office of a local employer in Presque Isle. I had a great deal of experience in the industry, interviewed well, was asked when I could start and was offered the staggering salary (in 2004!) of $7.50 per hour. The owner mentioned that having a degree really showed that I knew how to reach a goal and follow through. Yes, there were benefits to the job yet I walked out wondering how on earth I managed to get a degree and land a job that was paying me less than what I earned in high school.
Such is the plight for so many good people in our beloved Aroostook County. The business owners happily romp and play at their camps on the lakes while many of the working staff work long shifts and crazy hours and barely have time to play and be with their family. I could hardly pay my rent and meet monthly expenses with the several jobs I held while in Presque Isle.
Seeing that coming “home” from “away” was not entirely a mistake, I packed my apartment and said goodbye to close friends and family. I relocated “away” to Delaware where I had found success on several levels. As I write this, I am now self-employed, an entrepreneur, an active member of my community and happily married. What prompts this letter is the result of an e-mail from a friend of mine who I have known since our days in the first grade at Pine Street Elementary School. He has two children, just lost his job only after being promised a raise. How does one lose their employment after being told that they are doing a great job and that a raise was on the way?
I write this publicly to call out the local business owners who knowingly pay poverty wages (anything below $10 per hour) to their steadfast employees who are forced to work out of survival rather than forge careers out of desire. For too long, success in Aroostook County has been determined by the simple question of “are you employed?” rather than “are you happy?”
A few businesses are successful in that they do provide a livable wage with great benefits and the opportunity for advancement. Sadly, this is the minority rather than the majority. Do you want to keep young talent in the great north? Have business owners come together and figure out a way to pay a higher wage, offer incentives and keep talent in The County. I am sure having a lakeside camp is a wonderful thing, how about having a stable workforce that is well paid, motivated and can see beyond the next past due notice?
It is time for The County to move into the 21st century. It is time for the local business owner to step up and help provide a quality of life to those that produce the quality that they, the business owners so enjoy.
Michael Chamberland
Milton, Del.
