Three Department of Public Service dispatchers were at the State House today to testify to the Senate Gov’t Operations Committee in favor of S. 225; legislation that, if passed, would allow VSEA dispatchers and Vermont Veterans’ Home employees responsible for direct care to retire without a penalty at age 55, provided they have 20 years of service.
"The publication of this mythical account eradicates the true story of the extraordinary response of the hospital’s staff and the contributions of community partners around the state. It needs to be corrected."
VSEA issues press release, announcing that the union’s Supervisory, Corrections and State Colleges Units have voted to ratify new contracts with the State of Vermont!
“Judging by the votes, it’s pretty clear that VSEA members in these three Units are very pleased with their new contracts,” said ERN Chair Mary Poulos, herself a DOC employee. “It’s a great testament to the hard work of the rank-and-file VSEA bargaining team members who negotiated the agreements.”
Most public sector unions have failed to counter the conservative message that public workers’ pensions and pay are to blame for yawning budget gaps. Too many have offered preemptive concessions, hoping to fend off more severe cuts. Too few have been willing to defend their job standards or the services they provide, much less tackle the third rail of U.S. politics—raising taxes.
But unions and allies who have called for raising taxes—on the rich, not on their fellow workers—have won public support. More often than not, they’ve succeeded at raising revenue.
Dr. Robert Pierattini is head of psychiatry at Fletcher Allen Health Care. He has long voiced concern that [Gov.] Shumlin’s plan to create a regionalized psychiatric care system would diffuse expertise and provide fewer acute care beds than the state had before Irene.
“We’re turning away a record number of people who take admission,” he told the legislators. “We’re running at the maximum census we can manage.
