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Happy Labor Day!
Message from President Bellini:
Happy Labor Day VSEA!
On behalf of your VSEA Board of Trustees, I want to say a special thank you this Labor Day to every VSEA member for your support throughout this pretty difficult year.
This round of negotiations with the State proved to be very tough, but thanks to your solidarity, thousands of NMU, Supervisory, Corrections and State Colleges’ members got a raise and are now working under the terms and conditions of their newly negotiated contract. I especially want to thank the rank-and-file members who stepped up and ran for election to their respective Bargaining Teams. You are the folks who take time away from your family, friends and sometimes life really to ensure we protect state employees’ hard-earned pay and benefits and prevent many of the State’s desired takeaways. VSEA appreciates your sacrifice and your dedication to your union and your fellow state employees.
Unfortunately, VSEA’s Judiciary and State Housing Authority Units remain locked in tough contract fights. Judiciary members are making a stand at the table to elevate Docket Clerks’ pay and stop the exodus of valued and needed frontline Docket Clerks. They also have other issues to resolve and, like the NMU, Corrections and Supervisory Units, a fact-finder has been brought in to Judiciary negotiations and will be making a ruling soon hopefully. The reports from VSEA’s State Housing Authority Unit negotiators indicate these negotiations are going to be difficult as well. Both these Units will be asking for support in the upcoming days and weeks, and I know VSEA members will respond to their calls for help.
There are additional important VSEA campaigns and fights that continue to require members’ engagement and involvement. We must keep fighting to enhance safety and security for DCF workers, DOC and Parole and Probation workers, VPCH and VVH workers, Court employees and so many others. In addition, we must continue to be on guard against the privatization of our services, and we have to be actively sounding the alarm about waste, fraud and corruption where it exists in state government.
Finally, this is an election year, and the truth is, state workers are one of the few groups that actually get to vote for our boss. And there are enough of us that we are able to make a difference in both statewide and local races. I urge every VSEA member to educate yourself about each candidate’s position on the issues that matter to state employees, and cast your vote for those candidates who are committed to helping VSEA members improve our services and improve Vermont in the process.
Thank you again to each and every VSEA member for your continued support and activism. Have a safe and happy Labor Day.
> View larger image |
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Red Sox Change “VSEA Day” Game Time To 8:00 P.M.
When VSEA scheduled its first annual “VSEA Day at Fenway” event, the Red Sox September 18 game against the Yankees was scheduled to start at 1:35 p.m. However, because it’s the playoff stretch and the Red Sox are in the hunt, television executives and major league baseball have decided to switch the start time to 8:00 p.m. VSEA had no say in this decision.
Recognizing that the time change may present a problem to some VSEA members who may have already reserved a seat on the bus to Boston, VSEA is offering to refund your money and then make your seats available to a VSEA member currently on our waiting list.
If you have an issue with the game’s new start time and need to cancel, please contact VSEA Union Representative Bob South as soon as possible. You can reach Bob by email at bsouth@vsea.org or by phone at 223-5247.
VSEA apologizes in advance for any inconvenience. |
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Local Candidate VSEA Questionnaire Answers Now Online For Review
Recently, VSEA’s Legislative Committee sent questionnaires to candidates for local office. In an effort to better educate members about these candidates, prior to the November 8 general election, VSEA is pleased to make each candidate’s questionnaire answers available for review here. Please take time to review their answers and then consider casting your vote on November 8 for candidates whose answers reflect that they will work hard to support and defend state employees and the services you provide.
Local Candidate Questionnaire Answers
Statewide Candidate Questionnaire Answers |
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Non-Management Unit Seeks Nominations For All Bargaining Team Seats And Bargaining Team Clerk.
Also Seeking To Fill One Seat On The NMU Executive Committee.
Note: This message was emailed to all NMU members this week, but in case anyone missed it…
VSEA’s Non-Management Unit is currently seeking self-nominations for all seats on the Unit’s Bargaining Team (view current team here), as well as for the Clerk of the Bargaining Team. Additionally, there is one opening on the NMU Executive Committee.
Nominations for the Bargaining Team seats and Clerk of the Bargaining Team will be taken from the floor at VSEA’s Annual Meeting on September 10 in Killington, however, if you’re interested in a seat but cannot attend Annual Meeting, you must submit your name and a letter of intent to the NMU Chair and Clerk by September 5, 2016.
NMU Bargaining Team (All Seats Open)
If you want to self-nominate for a Bargaining Team seat, and cannot attend the Annual Meeting, NMU bylaws require you to submit your name and letter of intent to the NMU Chair and Clerk no later than 5 days prior to Annual Meeting, making the cut-off date September 5, 2016. In your letter of intent, please also include your job title, department/agency and your preferred email address and phone number.
NMU Bargaining Team Clerk
If you would like to self-nominate for the Clerk position, and cannot attend the Annual Meeting, NMU bylaws require you to submit your name and letter of intent to the NMU Chair and Clerk no later than 5 days prior to Annual Meeting, making the cut-off date September 5, 2016. In your letter of intent, please also include your job title, department/agency and your preferred email address and phone number.
NMU Executive Committee Member
Consistent with the NMU Bylaws, the Executive Committee Member will filling one vacant position on the Executive Committee by appointment to complete an unexpired term. If you would like to be considered for this appointment, please submit your name and a letter of intent to the NMU Chair and Clerk no later than 5 days prior to Annual Meeting, making the cut-off date September 4, 2016. In your letter of intent, please also include your job title, department/agency and your preferred email address and phone number.
Please send your contact information and letter of intent to both:
Michelle Salvador
VSEA NMU Chair
c/o VSEA
155 State Street
Montpelier
and…
Kelly Price
VSEA NMU Clerk
c/o VSEA
155 State Street
Montpelier |
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DCF/FSD Workers Seek To Address Mileage Issue
VSEA DCF Family Services Division employees are banding together to seek a remedy to the issue of workers facing many obstacles to being reimbursed when using their personal vehicle to perform their job duties. This week, members of the VSEA DCF/FSD Labor/Management team sent an email to their colleagues, advising them on how to contribute to the mileage reimbursement fight. If you’re a VSEA DCF/FSD member, but do not remember the email from the team, please contact a member of the Labor/Management team |
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VSEA Offering Discounted Long-Term Care Insurance To Members
VSEA President Dave Bellini sent an email to members yesterday, announcing a new and valuable benefit for VSEA members. Your union is partnering with National Long-Term Care Brokers (NYLTCB) to offer Long-Term Care Insurance with discounted premiums.
The program is subject to medical underwriting and insurability is not guaranteed.
Some reasons people plan ahead for Long-Term Care:
- To protect retirement assets and pension income;
- To prevent Medicaid spend down (impoverishment);
- To ensure options for health care; and
- To avoid being a burden to loved ones.
As a VSEA member, this offering is made available to you and your eligible family members with a permanent discount, not available to the general public. Eligible family members include spouses/domestic partners, adult children and parents/parents-in-law.
You will have access to a dedicated Long-Term Care planning specialist to help determine if coverage is appropriate for you, and compare policies from different insurance companies to ensure the best coverage at the most competitive premium.
For more information please call NYLTCB to free at (800) 695-8224 Ext 137 or visit http://nyltcb.com/vsea/ |
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Retirees Chapter Launches Effort To Recruit Every Eligible VSEA Retiree To Join Chapter
Photo: Members of the VSEA Retirees’ Chapter assemble a recruitment mailing at VSEA headquarters on September 1.
The following was submitted to WIA by Retirees’ Chapter Clerk Terry Lefebvre:
Members of the VSEA Retirees’ Chapter met yesterday to prepare a recruitment mailing going to all Chapter and Lifetime VSEA Members. Our goal is to enroll all eligible retirees as Chapter members.
Anyone who was a dues-paying member of VSEA for the five years immediately prior to his/her retirement is automatically granted lifetime membership in VSEA. Those lifetime members can join the Retirees’ Chapter by paying mere $12 per year Chapter dues.
If you know of any former VSEA members who are now retired, please encourage them to join our Chapter. If they do not receive a mailing from us by the end of next week, they can send an email to retirees@vsea.org or call VSEA at 802-223-5247. |
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Pew Research Center’s 2016 “10 Facts About American Workers”
Each year around this time, The Pew Research Center publishes its “10 Facts About American Workers,” and here is this year’s list.
- Over the past three decades, the share of American workers who are union members has fallen by about half
- There is broad support for the right of workers to unionize across a range of occupations
- Most Americans work in the service sector
- Nearly 15 million Americans are self-employed
- Millennials are now the largest generation in the labor force
- American women earn 83 cents on the dollar compared with men, but the gap is narrowing substantially among younger workers
- The wage gap between young workers with college degrees and their less-educated counterparts is the widest in decades
- A much smaller share of U.S. teens work today compared with earlier decades
- By contrast, more older Americans are working
- Raising the minimum wage is a highly partisan issue
> To read the narrative attached to each fact, please click here. |
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New Study Reveals That All American Workers’ Pay Is Tied To The Strength Of The Nation’s Labor Unions
Salon.com reported this week on a new study from the Economic Policy Institute that finds that all American workers’ pay benefits from a strong labor movement. EPI says its study is an attempt to quantify how much today’s non-union workers would have benefited if union membership remained at 1979 levels. The determined that “the typical, full-time private sector worker—whether a union member or not—would be making thousands of dollars more a year now if unions had the power they once did to influence a state or region’s standard wages and benefits package.”
One of the study’s co-authors Jake Rosenfeld tells Salon, “There’s a stereotype that unions only help union workers, but we found that the decline of union membership has had a vast effect on nonunion workers. We got as close as possible to isolating union activity from the other two effects of wage erosion: globalization and technological innovation.” |
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Article Asks "Will America Finally Stop Privatizing Everything?"
The August 24 edition of New Republic features an article, titled “Will America Finally Stop Privatizing Everything?” which it published on the heels of the federal Department of Justice’s recent decision to stop using private prisons. The story revisits many of the issues people have with America’s private prisons, and it goes on to speculate about whether or not the decision will cause a ripple effect. The author writes:
[Private prisons’ issues] reflect the problem with privatization as a whole. Private companies must carry out a government function—be it water, parking meters, mass transit, or K-12 schools—at a lower cost than the government can provide it, while taking their profit off the top. Time and again, the results reveal that to be impossible, at least if you want to provide the same quality of service. Yet we keep privatizing. Whether it’s Republicans expanding Medicaid or cash-strapped cities handing over bus service to Uber and Lyft, eventually costs shift from taxpayers to the users of the services, oversight becomes impotent as officials grow reliant on outsourcing contracts, and attempts to maximize profits lead to service breakdowns.” |
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Bolton Valley Extends Season Pass Offer To VSEA Members
For the fourth year in a row, the VSEA Advantage Discount Program is pleased to offer discounted season passes to the Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Bolton.
VSEA members who order before October 31, 2016, can purchase a discounted season pass for $269!
Discounted youth passes for your family members are also available ($199/$159).
Like last year, this offer is available only to VSEA members who are currently paying full dues to their union.
The sign-up process is pretty straightforward, but, like last year, in order for a member to view the special VSEA discount promo code (which can be found by clicking here), you must be a registered user of the VSEA website, which also requires you to be a full dues-paying member.
> After acquiring the special VSEA promo code, VSEA members can go here to place your season pass order.
Follow these instructions to make your purchase:
- Click on “Buy Online” and select pass products, accepting or declining pass protection and adding each product to your cart;
- In the Cart view, click on “Add/Change Guest” to set the pass holder’s name and information to each pass product, then click “Proceed to Checkout”;
- Enter your Promo Code in the box where it asks for your promo code then click “Apply Code”; and
- The cart should be refreshed and show the discounted corporate pricing.
A 2014-15 Bolton Valley All Access Season Pass includes:
- Unlimited alpine skiing and riding;
- 100km of Nordic and backcountry skiing;
- A 20% discount on rentals, retail shop purchases, group ski and ride lessons, and lodging (includes condos, suites, or hotel rooms); and
- Sports Center Membership including access to an indoor heated pool, hot tub, and sauna.
If you have any questions, please contact Eric Davis at 802-434-6813 or edavis@boltonvalley.com |
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SugarbushVSEA Advantage Program’s 2016 Sugarbush Ski Pass Offer!
For the tenth straight year, VSEA is pleased to inform you that the VSEA Advantage Discount Program is once again offering discounted Sugarbush all‐mountain (& other) ski passes for the 2016‐2017 season. This year, Sugarbush is once again using an online sign‐up feature.
This year’s rate will be $899 + tax. Offer is available only to full-fledged
VSEA members, meaning those who pay full dues. VSEA will be confirming names and status with Sugarbush representative.
All-Mountain youth, child and “20s” passes can also be purchased from the link.
> Get your 2016-2017 Sugarbush passes here!
Deadline to sign up is September 21, 2016!
Please share this notice with any VSEA members you know who might be interested in the Sugarbush deal.
A few notes:
- The program is open to full-time employees, their spouse or partner in a same-sex marriage. It does not apply to "roommate" situations;
- Youth and child passes may be purchased only in conjunction with an adult pass; and
- A complimentary Youth All Mountain Pass in included with an Adult All Mountain Pass purchase. The discount will be applied at check out.
Questions? Please contact Doug Gibson via email: dgibson@vsea.org |
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Subscribe To VSEA!
VSEA’s Communications Department is happy to disseminate any and all communications the leadership, Chapters, Units, and others request, however, the lists the Department currently pull from are provided to the union by the State of Vermont. VSEA’s Communications Department has found the lists to be dated, incomplete and sometimes lacking key information that was entered by a VSEA staff person but later overwritten or deleted during a State data dump.
To help VSEA more effectively reach active members—and really all those members who want to know what’s going on in their union—VSEA will be working hard in the coming months to collect members’ emails on its own and begin to build contact lists that cannot be altered by a State download.
You can help us get started by clicking here and signing up for the VSEA communications you are interested in receiving.
Thank you in advance for subscribing. Please urge your colleagues to do the same. |
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Do you have Week In Action feedback?
We want to know what you think of VSEA’s Week In Action.
> Send us your feedback here |
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