Another Opportunity To Have A Seat At The Table!
One Of The Best Ways To Get Involved In Your Union Is To Run For Election To The VSEA Board!
VSEA is now accepting petitions for the following Officer positions:
President;
First Vice President;
Second Vice President;
Clerk; and
Treasurer.
Any member in good standing can run for an Officer position.
Learn more or download petitions here.
VTDigger reports on a severe staffing crisis at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield and how DOC management has now had to resort to shifting staff from Marble Valley in Rutland and shutting down units there.
VSEA has been warning about a staffing crisis at most Vermont prisons for years now. Obviously, the situation is not getting better, rather, it’s getting worse.
“We have a facility in Springfield that is so badly staffed that they are in absolute crisis,” Steve Howard, the union’s executive director, tells VTDigger. “Our members need relief there because they are exhausted, and to do it we’re going to disrupt the lives of people at Marble Valley.”
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VSEA & Lawmakers Push Back Quickly On Proposal To Shutter Five DMV Offices
NMU Members: Last Call To Complete The 2021 Bargaining Survey!
VSEA Hosting “A Day In The Park” For Members & Families
Does VSEA Have Your Correct Contact Information?
GREAT NEWS! We’ve Been Working Hard To Make It Easier For VSEA Members To Sign Up For Benefits!
Is VT OneCare Saving State Money? State Auditor Says “No”
Teamsters Vote To Make Organizing Amazon A Priority
Read The Full Newsletter Here!
With potentially tough pension and contract fights ahead for state employees, VSEA’s Organizing Department sent an email to members recently, asking you to take a couple of minutes to update your contact information.
From the email:
“When we get news of a new proposal that could affect your life and livelihood, we count on a swift response from our members to bring about positive change. While the recent success is something to be proud of, we need to be even more effective and nimble to win this fight during the 2022 legislative session. At this time, one of the biggest obstacles the union faces is inaccurate or incomplete contact information from members. If the contact information VSEA has for you is incorrect, you are likely missing out on critically important information, and cannot lend your voice in solidarity with your fellow members.”
Update Your Contact Information Online!
Seven Days posted a story recently about State Auditor Doug Hoffer releasing a new report that found VT OneCare is costing state taxpayers more to administer than it is actually saving them.
From the post:
Vermont’s Auditor is again taking aim at the steep costs of the state’s all-payer health care system, raising thorny financial questions as policymakers ponder a new five-year contract with OneCare Vermont.
“Put simply, at this time the financial costs to run the model significantly exceed any Medicaid savings attributed to it,” Hoffer writes in a 41-page report released Monday.
[Hoffer] issued a report last year that stressed the need for the Green Mountain Care Board to be clear how it would evaluate the costs and saving of OneCare, but the board has yet to establish a methodology for doing so, he wrote.“
If now is too soon, then when exactly are Vermonters entitled to call the question on whether their money-saving investments are actually going to save them money? Next year? In five years? Ten? Twenty?” Hoffer writes.
Note: VSEA members will recall that the Scott Administration unilaterally decided in February that State Employee Health Plan members were going to now be attributed to the OneCare, beginning January 2021. At the time, VSEA called for public testimony on the All-Payer Model (the ACO), prior to the State entering into 2021 negotiations with CMS to extend the term of the APM agreement.