July 2, 2021
This afternoon, dozens of my fellow VSEA Corrections members and I went to the top to let Governor Scott know that we need action to address the staffing crisis now. We told him our stories of what it’s like in the facilities and field offices right now— stories of folks sleeping in their cars, missing the birth of their children due to mandatory overtime, and feeling unsafe because there isn’t enough staff on the units where we’re working. We told him that we’ve never seen staffing levels as bad as they are now and made sure that he knew what that meant for operations and our safety.
We gave him several proposals on action that he himself could take to address the problem now— solutions that don’t require the Legislature, like merit bonuses, merit step increases, and market factor adjustments. We got him to commit to visiting facilities unannounced to see the conditions we work in every day.
He told us that he had heard us, and would be speaking with his team to see what could be done to address our concerns. We’re hopeful that this will result in action; we won’t wait forever for that action to come, though. In the next week or two, I’ll be reaching out to you all to know what action, if any, the Administration has taken.
Anthony Giordano
Chair, VSEA Corrections Unit
See Also:
- Take The Lead In Your Union! Join The VSEA Corrections Bargaining Team Today!
- VSEA: The Choice For Vermont Corrections Employees
- Corrections Bargaining Unit
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