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"If you have not already received the compensatory time credit you are entitled to under the agreement, please carefully check your July 16 paycheck to make sure you have received the compensatory time you are entitled to."

Many Vermont private hospitals express interest in making beds available, but it appears Vermont taxpayers will be paying for the construction of new wings--or other additional space--at these hospitals.

VSEA wonders why the State doesn't just spend this money to build a larger, new facility in Waterbury, where a 15-bed facility is being erected anyway.

VSEA members working at the VSH have repeatedly said that the State is lowballing the number of beds needed statewide, warning that the number of beds needed is rising, not lowering. DOC members can also attest to the growing number of mentally ill inmates being housed in prisons across Vermont. 

"The suit addresses the denial of time-and-a-half overtime pay to current and retired state employees who are—or were--classified as Pay Grade 23 and above."

 "Labor advocates argue against cutting benefits. “I don’t think we should be looking first at shredding the safety net of people who’ve just lost their jobs,” Sirotkin said."

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"VSEA did try to save jobs, but the governor was not interested in that. He would like to eliminate state employees, use as many private contractors and temporary workers as possible."

"What really upset many state employees was the fact that this demand came from Jim Douglas who is in the top tier of the highest paid governors in the country, in the 49th smallest state, and who refused to give up the $54 per day ($14,040 per year) he gets for meals - a benefit that regular state employees do not get."

"CCA appealed a Chancery Court judge’s ruling last year that stated the for-profit prison operator must follow public records law and open its files for viewing."

Vermont houses the majority of its out-of-state prison population in CCA facilities.

"We want our members to be held harmless and whole," said SEA President Gary Smith.

"Under this suit, you may be eligible to obtain reimbursement for prescription drug co-pays made between August 1, 2001, and March 15, 2005."

"But, unlike the Winooski city manager, the governor rejected the VSEA members' offer, not once, but three times. Mr. Douglas said the savings being offered were not "sustainable," so he refused."