The members of the Vermont State Colleges bargaining unit have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a two-year agreement. The extension is in effect retroactively on July 1, 2022, and will remain in effect through June 30, 2024. As a result of the agreement, employees will receive a 3.5% increase in addition to the 1.5% the employees received under the Performance Evaluation Article. Likewise, the parties will receive a lump sum of $500.00 in the first year of the contract and $250.00 in the second year of the contract, which will be received on October 1st of each year.
With ballots being prepared to be sent out, a reminder that the VSEA Board of Trustees voted months ago to oppose the merger of the Vermont State Employees Credit Union and the New England Federal Credit Union.
The Board is encouraging VSEA VSECU members and retirees to oppose the merger and vote “no.”
Longtime VSEA members and retirees will remember that the VSECU was started by state employees, for state employees.
Four months after the Governor signed S. 220, granting Vermont deputy sheriffs the right to collectively bargain a first contract, the Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) is applauding a recent 16-1 vote by the deputy sheriffs for union representation from the VSEA. The total unit size is 20 deputy sheriffs across Vermont.
On behalf of the State Deputies, I would like to thank the Vermont State Employees’ Association for all the hard work and assistance they provided in our effort to join,” says Vermont Deputy Sheriff Thomas Oliver. “We are looking forward to continuing the relationship while working towards a contract.”
“It has taken a decade, but VSEA is pleased to finally welcome this group of state employees and be able to now begin working with them to secure a first contract that rewards the great service these men and women provide to Vermont every day,” says VSEA President Aimee Towne, noting that the VSEA’s campaign to bring representation to these workers actually began back in 2012. “The group is excited to get going, and VSEA is excited to help them win the wages, benefits and working conditions they deserve.”
Here is language from S. 220 that was signed in May 2022 and set the wheels in motion for the vote by deputy sheriffs for VSEA representation:
Deputy sheriffs paid by the State pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 290(b) shall be part of a single, separate statewide bargaining unit, as determined to be appropriate by the Board pursuant to section 941 of this title, for the purpose of bargaining collectively pursuant to this chapter.
VSEA President Aimee Towne (foreground) in a lighthearted moment during last weekend’s VSEA 78th Annual Meeting. Attendees, present and virtual, then got down to the serious business, passing an operating budget for the new fiscal year, passing a bylaw amendment, and approving a dues change
