Save VSC Libraries! Attend The VSC Board Of Trustees Meeting
Sub-Committee Of The VSC Board Hears In Advance Of Tomorrow’s Meeting From Vermonters Angry About Revised Library Plan
Former Castleton University President Warns Of Private Firm’s Possible Influence On VSC Libraries Decision
Post & Share! Support VSEA Librarians!
Legislative Video Update
Legislative Crossover Status
Medicare Advantage Plan Lobbyists Pushing Back Hard On Proposals To Help Curb Fraud & Enhance Accountability
Upcoming Presentation: The Privatization Of Medicare
April 3 Deadline To Submit Bylaw Changes
The Next VSEA Veterans Council Meeting Is April 18!
Group G Coming This Spring – Certain Corrections and Mental Health Workers Can Choose a New Retirement Plan!
The 2023 VSEA Scholarship Application Deadline Is May 5!
Solidarity Stories:
Support Striking Goddard College Employees!
LA Teachers Conduct Three-Day ULP Strike
Newly Passed Utah Law Gives Many State Workers Access To At-Work Childcare – Road Map For Vermont??
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Here’s the release VSEA issued this afternoon:
The Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) recently filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) that alleged violations of the State Employees’ Labor Relations Act (SELRA) by the Vermont State Colleges administration, specifically bargaining in bad faith and allegations of retaliation against union activists.
In their ULP, VSEA Bargaining Unit members alleged that administrators withheld information during a recent bargaining session, provided a misleading statement regarding anticipated layoffs, and within an hour after the bargaining session ended, announced that eight VSEA members were being laid off as a result of a plan to transition to an all-digital library. Four of the eight VSEA members being laid off are bargaining team members and union activists.
“We are pleased the Labor Board saw the merit in our unfair labor practice filing, and that they have issued an unfair labor practice complaint. They acted promptly due to the urgent need to get bargaining back on track and scheduled a hearing for May 4,” explains VSEA Bargaining Team member and Unit Chairperson Billie Neathawk, a librarian and one of the eight being laid off. “We look forward to making our case in person, and we’re hopeful the Board will agree with us and issue a strong remedy for this unfair labor practice.”
The VLRB hearing is scheduled for May 4, 2023, beginning at 9:00 AM.
In a commentary today in the Rutland Herald and Times Argus, former Castleton University President Jonathan Spiro shares his view of who, or better what private firm, may have influenced VSC administrators’ decision to go digital.
Spiro writes:
“[VSC Administrators’] pretext is an unsubstantiated claim that firing the library staff will save the system $500,000 per year. But I suspect their primary goal is not to save money. After all, in the last two years, they have accepted millions of dollars from the Legislature and created scores of new positions in the central office (vice presidents, assistant vice presidents, directors, executive directors, etc.), many of whom are paid well over $100,000 per year. If saving money is their goal, consider the fact President Grewal is paid $270,000 a year (plus a free house, and a free car). The librarians he fired “because we must save money” earn $40,000 a year (no free house, no free car).
&
You may not have heard of Deloitte. But with over 400,000 employees and annual revenues of $59 billion, it is the largest professional services network in the world and the third-largest private company of any kind in the entire United States. In early 2021, an official with Deloitte sent a 20-page report titled “The Hybrid Campus” to several high-level administrators of Vermont State Colleges System, including the chancellor and the chair of the board of trustees. The thesis of the Deloitte report was universities should take advantage of the COVID shutdowns and quarantines to create “fully hybrid” campuses that would permanently digitize “everything an institution offers, from academic advising, to courses, to career services.”
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Attend this upcoming Vermont State Colleges (VSC) Board of Trustees meeting to voice your support for preserving VSC libraries and VSC librarians. Opportunity to speak exists during the public comment portion of the meeting.
VSC Board of Trustees Meeting
Saturday, March 25
9:30 AM
CCV, 660 Elm Street
Montpelier
(View Map)
Public Comment Period
VSEA is providing mileage to members who attend!
Recent Press:
Breaking! Senator Introduces Legislation To Save VSC Libraries
VSC Administrators’ “Revised” Plan For Libraries Is Not Popular
Crossover Friday
VSEA Says Goodbye To Staff Attorney Kelly Everhart
Group G Coming This Spring – Certain Corrections and Mental Health Workers Can Choose a New Retirement Plan!
April 3 Deadline To Submit Bylaw Changes
Union Made St. Patrick’s Day
Medicare Advantage VSEA Action Alert Sent This Week
New Report Warns That Medicare Advantage Is Using AI To Determine When To Stop Paying Patient’s Benefits
Upcoming Presentation: The Privatization Of Medicare
Solidarity Stories:
Michigan Repeals “Right-to-Work”
Survey Finds U.S. Workers Worried That Employer Safety Precautions Are Falling Way Short
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