Pat Gabel Security Committee Letter
>> Click here to view/ download "Pat Gabel Security Committee Letter" (PDF)
VSEA Worker Safety Action
With just a few short weeks until the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, VSEA members conducted an action on December 15 to highlight many state employees’ desire for enhanced workplace safety protections.
Press Coverage:
VTDigger: "State workers rally for safety"
WCAX: "Vt. lawmakers discuss safety of state workers"
DCF Workers Meet Personally With Governor Shumlin On Safety
VSEA released the following to the press this afternoon:
A small group of VSEA DCF social workers met personally in Montpelier this afternoon with Governor Shumlin to thank him for his recent announcement about budgeting money for new DCF hires and to urge him to do even more to enhance safety for social workers and for Vermonters visiting DCF offices statewide. They also gave the Governor a list of the safety recommendations DCF frontline workers presented to the Joint Legislative Child Protection Oversight Committee on November 18.
Auditor’s Office Releases Audit Harsh Of State’s “Sole-Source” Contracting Practices
The Auditor’s Office has released an audit of the State’s "sole-source" contracting practices, and the findings are not good. Here’s how the Associated Press is reporting the audit:
"Vermont state Auditor Doug Hoffer says his office has found widespread abuse in the state’s contracting practices, with state agencies failing to use competitive bidding when they should."
This is a very important finding, as VSEA members have been asking lawmakers for years to examine the State’s contracting with private vendors. Members were seeing more and more private vendors doing work once done by state employees and they wanted to know if the savings were really there.
Not bidding the contracts is especially offensive when you consider the millions potentially lost that could have protected a key service or position.
Good News As VSEA Members Head To Fact Finding
The Times Argus reports that the State and lawmakers (and state employees, for that matter) will not have to worry as much about the financial fallout from an Obamacare excise tax called the "Cadillac tax" (a misnomer, as the tax would impact more than 70% of America’s health plans, and 70% of Americans aren’t driving Cadillacs).
This is good news as three VSEA bargaining units prepare for fact finding with the State in January. State negotiators have expressed their concern about the tax’s impact to the state budget, but now, it appears, they have no reason for a knee-jerk reaction.