Like a lot of Vermonters, VSEA’s Special Events Committee and Board of Trustees members were cautiously optimistic a few weeks ago that it would be possible to include an in-person option for VSEA members and retirees wanting to attend Council and/or Annual Meeting. But the recent surge in new COVID cases across Vermont caused the Committee and Board this week to cancel the in-person option and instead decide that both meetings would now be virtual-only, via Zoom.
“As your President, your health and well-being in these troubling times are my greatest concern,” explains VSEA President Aimee Towne. “I had really hoped to have a lively and fun in-person Annual Meeting at Jay Peak. Unfortunately, the rising case number for COVID throughout Vermont has caused VSEA to make the difficult decision to go to a completely virtual Annual Meeting on September 11, in order to protect your health and that of the employees of Jay Peak. I know this is disappointing, I hope we will be able to meet in person very soon. I look forward to that day very much.”
If you have already reserved a room at Jay Peak Resort please cancel it at your earliest convenience. You won’t be charged a cancelation fee if you cancel more than 72 hours prior to arrival. Thank you!
Register Online! Once registered, VSEA will send the Zoom link and call-in information prior to the meeting. Don’t have a Zoom account? Sign-up for one here.
Learn More About VSEA Annual Meeting
Several news reports this morning about Gov. Scott’s press conference yesterday, where he said, “We are now also considering expanding this [vaccination] requirement across state government, and we will have those discussions in the near future.” VSEA is cautioning the State that any vaccination requirement will trigger “impact bargaining” with VSEA Bargaining Units.
“The Administration can implement such a policy but they have to bargain the impact with VSEA,” reminds VSEA Executive Director Steve Howard. “Members who feel strongly one way or the other about a requirement and its impact should reach out right away to their Bargaining Team members to discuss their concerns.”
Find VSEA Bargaining Team members
Note: After a vaccination mandate was recently implemented in Washington state, state employees there filed a lawsuit against the State, arguing the Governor failed to negotiate this “working condition” which the union contract mandates.
See Also:
Governor’s Vaccination Mandate To Extend To All State Employees, Beginning September 15
Annual Meeting WARN Corrections
Health Department Employees Ask For Better Guidance From State As COVID Cases Increase Across The State
State Sends Memo, Updating Telework Policy
VSEA Corrections Unit Reaches Agreement With State On New Retention & Recruitment Incentives
Pension Task Force Update
Brattleboro State Office Closed Due To “Condensation Issues.” Employees Concerned About Mold
State’s Call For Corrections Employees To Be Vaccinated Triggers Bargaining
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Here is an excerpt from an email sent by a DOH manager to employees earlier today:
“I just received word that the Brattleboro building will be closed for the next week due to condensation issues related to the window replacement. We are asking all staff to work from home if at all possible. If you do need to go in we can go into the building quickly but otherwise we can go into 41 Spring Street. I hope to put out some more information tomorrow after…surveys the building and the space at 41 Spring St.
If you have any appointments at the building, please call and reschedule. I have reached out to the lab about the water samples and seeing if we can discontinue for 1 week.
Here is part of what one Brattleboro VSEA member sent to VSEA, after learning about the building’s closure:
I work out of the Brattleboro office and our building has been under construction to replace windows. We have complained a few times about the workers and how the work was being done while we were occupying the building; the humidity being so high the tile floors and carpet was wet. One BPS was shut in an office while a construction worker spray foamed windows. The smell was terrible all down the hall, and he shut her in there. We had to get fans to blow it down the hall so she didn’t pass out from the fumes.
We voiced concerns about mold and were brushed off and told it was just dust, all the whole continuing to work through it and suffering symptoms of mold such as headaches, coughing, insomnia and more.
Note: VSEA will be bringing this issue to the statewide Safety & Health Labor Management Committee
From a VTDigger story:
Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees’ Association, the union representing the state’s correctional officers, said Monday that it is an issue for negotiation.
“As I understand it, it is not a mandatory vaccination,” Howard said of the governor’s plan. “You have to show proof of vaccination or be subject to biweekly testing and masking — you have to wear a mask — so it’s a little bit different than mandatory.”
“You don’t have to get the vaccine if you don’t want to,” he said. “You just have to submit to the testing and the masking.”
He said the union sent the Scott administration a “Demand to Bargain” notice, as the governor’s plan represented a change in the working conditions.
Read the full story on VTDigger.org
See Also:
Governor’s Vaccination Mandate To Extend To All State Employees, Beginning September 15
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