The largest labor union for state employees accused the Mills administration of "bad-faith" bargaining in a formal complaint filed Monday with the Maine Labor Relations Board.

The Mills administration, in turn, defended itself with what an official described as "unfortunate claims" filed one day before the two sides were slated to discuss one sticking point in the months-long negotiations.

In its complaint, the Maine State Employees Association-Service Employees International Union Local 1989 claimed the Mills administration prematurely cut off negotiations on a host of outstanding issues, including changes to worker reclassifications. The current two-year contracts expired on June 30 and the two sides met roughly a dozen times since June.

But the administration officially declared an i

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