Three VSEA Bargaining Teams Send Important Action Email To Unit Members’ HOME Email Addresses

Members of VSEA’s Non-Management, Corrections and Supervisory Bargaining Teams sent an email late yesterday to all members in these Units who have provided VSEA with a valid home email address. The message is important and time sensitive, so members belonging to one of the three Units are being asked to check your home email inbox and then take the action asked. If you do not see the email in your inbox, please also check your spam folder to make sure it did not land there.

As always, VSEA members can update your home or work email address or other information at any time simply by clicking here.

You can also reach out to a member of your Bargaining Team for a more comprehensive update. Find a list of Team members here.

VSEA Thanks Lawmakers Who Have Signed Letter Opposing CoreCivic

VSEA’s Facebook and web pages featured a meme the union created this week to thank the House and Senate members who have signed on to a letter to oppose allowing CoreCivic to set up shop in Vermont. (As of February 13, 2018)

VSEA members who missed the online posts are urged to review the list now to see if your lawmakers have signed on and are owed a “thank you.”

If you don’t see your lawmakers on the list, send them a message and ask, why not?

You can find your lawmaker’s contact information here.

Photos From VSEA State House Day 2018

State Treasurer Questions State’s Proposal To Allow CoreCivic To Build 925-Bed Prison

VTDigger reports on February 15 that State Treasurer Beth Pearce is openly questioning the State’s proposal to allow a private, for-profit, out-of-state company to build a massive prison and mental health complex in northeastern Vermont, saying she has “serious concerns.”

Pearce says that the lease-to-own deal with CoreCivic that the State is proposing could “count toward the total amount of debt the state is able to take on,” adding it would “put the proposal in competition with other projects and initiatives the state funds using bonds.” She warned that increasing the debt Vermont takes on could constrain the state’s future bonding authorization. Pearce says she will be educating herself more in coming weeks on the proposal’s potential impact and then sharing what she learns with lawmakers and State officials.

“I think it’s a really valid concern,” comments House Institutions and Corrections Chair Alice Emmons (D-Springfield).

Vermont currently sports a “AAA” bond rating, which is the highest attainable.

Council Hears Bargaining & Legislative Updates

The VSEA Council met in Montpelier on Wednesday, and the body’s very full day began with a “breakfast with lawmakers” event and ended later that day with the VSEA Legislative Reception at the State House. In between events with lawmakers, Council members received comprehensive updates on bargaining with the State, the status of legislation important to VSEA members and an overview of how the state budget is looking for the foreseeable future. The President and Executive Director also provided reports, and VSEA Staff Attorney Kelly Everhart conducted diversity training for the entire Council.

VSEA First Vice President and Council Chair Aimee Towne asked WIA to remind Council members to please complete the meeting survey. A link will be emailed to all Council members soon. If you do not receive the email within the next few days, please contact Aimee here: ATowne@vsea.org

Employee’s BRIN Report Leads To Finding Of Mold At 133 State Street. Employees Relocated.

The State called VSEA on Thursday to inform the union that 12 Agency of Digital Services employees working in the basement of the 133 State Street state-office building were being relocated after mold was discovered in their work area. The mold investigation was prompted by an employee who saw a problem and then filed a “Building Related Issue Notification” form with BGS, seeking help. BGS told VSEA that air-quality testing was done in the area and will be done throughout the building to ensure no other mold pockets exist. Remediation is in progress, according to the State.

See an issue where you work?
File a BRIN report

Next Brattleboro Chapter Meeting Is February 22!

The VSEA Brattleboro Chapter is holding its next meeting on Thursday, February 22, beginning at 12:00 p.m. in the State Office Building’s Conference Room 148 in Brattleboro. Pizza and salad being served!

Please direct any questions or comments to VSEA Brattleboro Chapter President Robin Rieske, via email at robin.rieske@vermont.gov.

Next Central Vermont Chapter Meeting Is February 22!

The VSEA Central Vermont Chapter is holding its next meeting on Thursday, February 22, beginning at 12:00 p.m. in the Davis Building’s Winooski Room, located at the National Life complex in Montpelier. Pizza being served!

Please direct any questions or comments to VSEA Central Vermont Chapter President Cassandra Edson, via email at cedson@vsea.org. 

Correction: VSEA Organizer Schedules AOT Worksite Meeting

VSEA Organizer Carmen Scoles has scheduled a meeting for February 28 with AOT members who work at National Life in Montpelier. The meeting begins at 12:00 p.m.

• February 28 –Fourth Floor Conference Room (N413)– National Life, Montpelier

VSEA Members Eligible For 2018 Vermont State Colleges Staff Federation Scholarships

If you are a VSEA member—or a member’s spouse, dependent or domestic partner—you are eligible to receive a 2018 Vermont State Colleges Staff Federation (VSCSF) scholarship award!

The fund is intended help VSEA members and their spouses, dependents or domestic partners who are seeking financial assistance to pursue post-secondary educational goals at one of the following:

• Castleton State College;
• Lyndon State College;
• Johnson State College (soon to be Northern VT University) or
• Vermont Technical College.

The Scholarship Committee will base its decision for the scholarship eligibility on the following criteria:

• Career goals;
• Financial need;
• Abilities and initiative;
• Life experiences; and
• College attending

The scholarship application must be completed in full and one $500 scholarship will be awarded.

The deadline to apply is May 31, 2018.

Download The Application Here!
 

VSCSF scholarship applications and essays should be sent to:

Samuel Read Hall Library
c/o Monique Prive
P.O. Box 919
Lyndonville, VT 05851‐0919

If you have any questions, please contact Scholarship Committee Chair Denise Doyon by phone at 802‐626-6350 or by e‐mail at denise.doyon@northernvermont.edu.

VSEA Member Margaret Crowley On Panel To Discuss Labor Film

VSEA member and Judiciary Unit Chair Margaret Crowley will be part of a panel discussion, following a screening of Made in Dagenham; a film dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant in the UK, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.

The film is showing on Thursday, February 22, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the State House cafeteria in Montpelier. Pizza and salad will be available and there is no charge to eat and watch the movie. All are invited to attend.

VSEA Bus Trip To Foxwoods Casino!

The VSEA Membership Recruitment Committee is pleased to announce a 2018 casino trip with a two-night stay!

Lodging Cost:
(Two Nights at Two Trees Inn):

• $248/single occupancy;
• $138 per person/double occupancy; or
• $122 per person/triple occupancy.

Bus Cost:
$70 per person
Bus will depart from Waterbury at 12:00 p.m. and White River Junction at 1:00 p.m.

Included Bonuses:

• Baggage handling;
  (2) $10 food credit or full Festival Buffet;
• $5 food credit or full Breakfast Buffet;
• $20 slot play;
• 20% discount at any Foxwoods gift shop with a purchase of $25 up to $1,000; and
• A Foxwoods souvenir.

To register or for more information, please contact VSEA Union Rep Bob South (bsouth@vsea.org) or Administrative Assistant Sue DeVoid (sdevoid@vsea.org). Each can be reached by phone at 802-223-5247.

Important Information!
Payment must be received within one week of registering or you will lose your spot. Cash, check and credit card payments accepted. To pay, please contact VSEA Union Representative Bob South by email (bsouth@vsea.org) or phone 802-223-5247. Thank You!

Kansas Lawmakers Float Bill To Prevent CoreCivic From Ever Overseeing Day-To-Day Prison Operations 

A February 11 Garden City Telegram story details how Kansas lawmakers are actively working to ensure that CoreCivic (the firm hired by the state to build a new Kansas prison) or any other private company can ever run the day-to-day operations at any state prison. Lawmakers authored the bill after a 20-year, $362 million lease-to-own contract for a new state prison in Lansing, Kansas, was approved by the State Finance Council.

From the story:

CoreCivic, which is based in Tennessee, was contracted to build the new prison. However, under measures outlined in the bill, which was endorsed by the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, CoreCivic would not be granted authority to oversee personnel operations at Kansas adult and juvenile facilities.

In some cases, problems incurred outweighed the cost savings private prison companies often advocate. Also, private prison companies benefit from systematic increases in incarceration rates, which provides little incentive for such companies to offer education that rehabilitates prisoners and allows them to become functional members of society upon release.

And then there’s this line, which is worrisome and did not go unnoticed by VSEA and its DOC members:

“The Senate bill that prohibits outsourcing of personnel management operations at state prison facilities may have been designed to mostly address safety concerns, while also protecting state employees who must absorb a significant decrease in staffing when the modernized prison opens in Lansing.”

National AFL-CIO Co-Sponsoring Petition To Supreme Court In Advance Of Janus Hearing

The national AFL-CIO is one of seven organizations co-sponsoring an online petition to send to the U.S. Supreme Court in advance of February 26 oral arguments in a case titled Janus vs. Illinois. The worry is that the Court will rule to strip away public-sector unions’ hard-won right to represent “non-members,” or in VSEA’s case, “agency-fee” payers.

The petition reads, in part:

“This month, 50 years after the Memphis workers’ strike, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, a case brought by corporate elites to divide working people by limiting our power in numbers.”

Sign Petition Here

Campaign Workers’ Organizing!

Mother Jones published a story this morning about a new labor organization forming, called the “Campaign Workers’ Guild (CWG).” The group is seeking to “organize election staffers, particularly those who work for pro-labor Democrats.”

From the story:

“So far, the [CWG] has entered negotiations with two congressional campaigns and one gubernatorial campaign, to boost wages and improve working conditions in an industry that relies on short-term contract workers. ‘We’re coming together,’ Julia Ackerly, an executive board member of the Campaign Workers Guild and former campaign staffer for Bernie Sanders and other progressive candidates, says, ‘because for a really long time the culture of progressive campaigns has been exploitative and campaign workers have been denied basic labor protections.’”

Note: Sounds like a perfect fit for some Vermont candidates, right?