VSEA Members Testify In Support Of S. 14, The Fair Share Bill
On April 4, VSEA members testified at the State House in favor of S.14.
Wisconsin Governor’s Anti-Union Actions Now Dragging Down Entire State’s Economy
"For example, Walker’s Act 10, which took effect in July 2011, sharply reduced the take-home pay for almost all of the state’s 350,000 public employees. A typical state employee earning $50,000 lost $4,228 in take-home pay, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau. That’s money drained out of the state’s economy."
VSEA Vets’ Home Employees At State House To Deliver “Inadequate Staffing” & “Dangers Of Mandatory OT” Message
Photos from VSEA Vets’ Home members Leona Center and John Dunham’s day at the State House on March 21. During the course of the day, the VVH employees found themselves having to correct several pieces of minsinformation being conveyed to legislators by VVH administrators. One is an allegation of 22 "call-outs" on one day, which administrators say really hampered the VVH’s ability to properly staff that day. However, administrators failed to qualify their comments with the fact that VVH supervisors were advising employees to "call-out on Monday" (the 22-deficiency day) due to the weekend OT (mandatory?) some employees had racked up. Dunham and Carter both continued to stress the need for adequate staffing at the VVH.
WCAX Reports On DMHs Ongoing Struggle To Properly Place Vermonters In Acute Mental Health Crisis
"Any given day we have a couple of people who are stuck in an emergency room," said Mary Moulton, the commissioner of the Vt. Department of Mental Health.
$ Red Flag — "Transports and assistance are not a new part of the budget formula for the state department of mental health. But with less room for patients, that portion of the budget ate an additional 33 percent last year, bringing the total to $160,000."
VSEA Effort To Represent Deputy State’s Attorney Employees and Sheriffs Gets Bogged Down In Minutiae
Here’s what this story boils down to, from the July 12 Brattleboro Reformer:
“They are paid through the State payroll system, they have State e-mail and their pay and benefits are administered through the Department of Human Resources,” [VSEA Associate General Counsel Abigail] Winters explains. “They do, in fact, work for the State.” In VSEA’s representation petition to the VLRB, Winters spelled out VSEA’s argument even further, writing “Deputy State’s Attorneys are subject to a statewide pay plan established by the State of Vermont Department of Human Resources. These workers have been erroneously denied bargaining unit representation without any statutory basis and have not been able to engage in collective bargaining with respect to their pay, benefits and working conditions, in violation of SELRA.”