The federation lobbies the state legislature and executive branch on issues important to its members, assists its state and local affiliate unions in organizing new members, conducts training and educational programs, and conducts research into labor-related issues such as workplace health and safety, health care, wages and benefits and more.
The organization is governed by three executive officers (a president, vice-president and secretary-treasurer), and a 26-member board of directors.
[1] After Dorsky's death in 1979, Charles O'Leary, then director of the Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine at Orono, defeated Maine AFL–CIO vice-president Marvin Ewing, 75 percent to 25 percent, in the election for a new president.
The federation provided a critical early endorsement to Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) in his 2002 race for election to Congress.
Since 1994, the state's largest employers—shipbuilders and paper mills—have shed nearly 4,500 workers, and job losses continue due to defense budget cuts.
[4][8] In 2006, the Maine AFL–CIO lost another 14,000 members when unions with the Change to Win Federation disaffiliated in the wake of the formation of the rival organization.