Fake News Friday, 01/16/2026: New officers to be sworn in tomorrow, Negotiation Committee nominations, and ICE coming to Maine

January 16th, 2026

The new officers elected in October will be sworn in at tomorrow’s general membership meeting. Only one incumbent won reelection to the same officer position, Marc Lindvall. Lindvall will remain a Trustee in 2026. Bath Chief Steward Tim Suitter will take Chris Williams’ place as President after defeating him by 167 votes. Ryan Ryder will also remain on the Executive Board. He will be taking over as Secretary Treasurer after the incumbent was promoted to International Auditor in September.

Scott MacDonald will take over Ryder’s previous position as Recording Secretary. His victory is noteworthy because he brought formal charges against the previous Executive Board on three separate occasions last year. MacDonald’s ascension to Recording Secretary promises tense Executive Board meetings. But members hope for more transparency, too.

MacDonald was also one of two second shifters who won election to the Executive Board. The other was Terry Frost. Frosty will be the new Conductor Sentinel. He will also remain in his role as second shift’s General Steward.

Don Bowen won the race for Bath’s Chief Steward. Bowen was previously the Chief Steward during the 2012 and 2015 contract negotiations.¹ The composition of the 5-person Bath Grievance Committee remains almost entirely unchanged. Matt Dustin won the second highest vote share. This pushed Ryan Ryder to sixth place. The other four incumbents won their reelection bids by a comfortable margin.

The Harding Chief Steward Scott McFadden ran unopposed. Every incumbent won reelection to the Harding Grievance Committee.

Find a summary of these changes below:

Executive Board

President: Chris Williams → Tim Suitter
Vice President: Ray Orff → Nate Wallace
Recording Secretary: Ryan Ryder → Scott MacDonald [2^nd shift]
Secretary Treasurer: [vacant] → Ryan Ryder
Trustees
- Marc Lindvall [reelected]
- Josh Johnstone → Angela McCarren
- Clayton Reid [2^nd shift] → Matt Dustin
Conductor Sentinel: Dave Clukey → Terry Frost [2^nd shift]

Auditing Committee

Scott MacDonald → Katie Baker
Nate Wallace → Mike Carraway
Jason Ryder → Noah Jalbert

Bath Chief Steward and Grievance Committee

Chief Steward: Tim Suitter → Don Bowen
Ryan Ryder → Matt Dustin
Doug Hall [reelected]
Rick Sites [reelected]
Mark Cyr [reelected]
Tim Halle [reelected]

Harding Chief Steward and Grievance Committee

Chief Steward: Scott McFadden [reelected]
Todd Biswell [reelected]
Clayton Reid [reelected]
Rob Hale [reelected]
Tim Marquis [reelected]

Nominations for the 2026 Negotiation Committee will take place at tomorrow’s meeting, too. Elections will be in February. The union mailed contract surveys this week.

Many of these surveys were sent to addresses in Lewiston and Portland. News broke Wednesday night that ICE will begin operations in these cities as soon as next week.² It was not very long ago that border patrol nabbed IAM member Maximo Londonio. I warned you could be next. Now, the federal government appears intent on targeting Mainers. Watch what the Governor had to say about this:

Watch the Governor’s statement on ICE operations in Maine.

Lewiston ranks among the top ten safest cities in the United States. Portland ranks among the top twenty-five.³ At the state level, Maine ranks third for least violent crime in the nation.⁴ There is no reason to target Maine, just like there was no real reason to target Londonio. None of this matters to ICE. Being an upstanding member of his community with legal status did not stop immigration authorities from holding Londonio in detention for two months. He was held in solitary confinement for one of those months. “I was an animal put in this little hole,” Londonio told the media after his release.⁵ Stories like this have only become more common in the six months since Londonio returned to his family. At the same time, citizenship status has become less relevant to ICE operations.⁶ Local S6 may get lucky, but it will not shock me if one of our members is caught up in this nightmare, too. Watch your backs next week. Look out for your neighbors. And please, brothers and sisters, stay safe.