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Weekly News From Your Union: March 18, 2016

March 18, 2016 5:10 pm

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Vermont-NEA Members Urge State to Reach Settlement With VSEA

March 17, 2016 2:20 pm

The Vermont-NEA released the following statement in solidarity with VSEA members. Thank you for the support Vermont NEA!

State’s largest union calls for state to return to table and reach quick, fair settlement

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont-NEA’s 12,000 members stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters of the Vermont State Employees Association in their quest to reach a fair settlement with the administration of Gov. Peter Shumlin.

“As fellow public employees, we stand with the thousands of Vermont state workers who have so far been unable to convince the administration to reach a fair settlement, despite months of negotiating and compromising,” said Martha Allen, a K-12 librarian from Canaan, who serves as Vermont-NEA’s president. “It is long past time for the state to get back to the table. We urge the administration to do so.”

Here We Go Again… Lawmakers Must Find $35 Million In New Revenue

March 15, 2016 12:19 pm

According to VTDigger, Vermont lawmakers will once again have to scramble in the next few weeks to find millions of dollars in new revenue to balance the budget. Mind you, the Governor built no money into his budget for state employee wage and benefit enhancements, so if VSEA Bargaining Teams can negotiate a deal, that money will also need to be found. VSEA members will remember though that Speaker Shap Smith told the crowd at State House Day that he would be "keeping an eye on the budget as it nears its vote in committee," knowing that the Governor’s budget did not contain any funding.

VSEA members and the union’s legislative team will be watching the budget debate closely in the next few months, praying that cuts to public services don’t once again become the primary vehicle to fund Vermont’s annual budget holes.

There are alternatives. Just ask the Public Assets Institute or the VT Blue Ribbon Tax Commission.

Free Press Highlights Governor’s Ill-Advised Plan To Shutter The St. Johnsbury Work Camp

March 14, 2016 11:37 am

Photo: Burlington Free Press

Gov. Shumlin wants to save money by closing the St J. Work Camp, but workers, advocates and some in the community are fighting back.

Article features the voice of VSEA member Gary Guyer (pictured here) and this astute analysis of the importance of the Work Camp from Criminal Justice Reform Executive Director Suzy Wizowaty:

“The work camps are the best part of corrections," she says. "The idea that we would close the work camp and send more people to a private prison — it’s going from the best to the worst."

Read more from the Burlington Free Press here