VSEA Eclipses 6,000 Members!

Most In Union’s History!

VSEA issued the following press release on Tuesday, October 2:

VSEA President Dave Bellini and the VSEA Board of Trustees are cheering the news this morning that the union now represents more than 6,000 Vermont public employees (6,007 as of this morning)! This is the highest number of members in VSEA’s 73-year history.

“At a time when many unions are struggling to maintain current membership levels, VSEA is pleased that our focused efforts to increase our membership over the past few years are working,” says Bellini, who the VSEA membership recently re-elected to a new two-year term. He continues, “VSEA leaders are not oblivious to the many challenges confronting public- and private-sector unions across the country, but rather than sit idly by, we directed VSEA members and staff over a year ago to reach out to non-members about the importance of belonging to a union. Judging by the numbers, VSEA’s pro-union message is certainly resonating. It’s a message that the union fights for workers’ paychecks, healthcare, retirement and safe and healthy working conditions. Without a union, state employees could be treated the same as temporary state employees, meaning you have no rights, no benefits and no voice in your how you are treated at work.”

Bellini thanked VSEA’s Membership Recruitment Committee for its role in leading a union-wide effort to help recruit “agency-fee” payers to full membership and the benefits that come with it.

“This group of rank-and-file state employees sponsored a very successful recruitment campaign that helped VSEA make history today when we hit the 6,000-member number,” adds Bellini. “There is nothing more effective than frontline workers recruiting frontline workers. Our members are able to highlight wins like hard-fought contracts and the Judiciary workers’ recent victory in getting more pay for docket clerks. There’s no greater recruitment tool than VSEA’s 73-year proven track record of fighting for Vermont state employees. We reached a milestone this week, and we’re not taking our foot off the gas.”

VSEA Blasts Recent Patient-On-Worker Assaults At The Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital

VSEA issued the following press release just after WIA published on September 22:

VSEA President Dave Bellini is extremely concerned about a copy of a September 21 letter the union received today. It’s from a senior Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration (VOSHA) official to the Co-CEO/General Counsel at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital, informing her that a “workplace hazard” was reported to have occurred at the facility on September 12 and that VPCH management now has 10 days to conduct an investigation and provide findings to VOSHA by October 5.

The September 12 “workplace hazard” mentioned in VOSHA’s letter was actually a vicious assault by a VPCH patient on three of the facility’s frontline workers and a traveling nurse. Two of those assaulted went to the emergency room with “serious concussions.” Here’s how the VOSHA letter describes the assault:

“On September 12, several mental health specialists reported increased agitation and escalation of behaviors in a patient to the charge nurses and to [the] Interim Director of Nursing. Nothing was done to address the issue or prevent staff from risk of assault. [The Interim Director of Nursing] even told one MHS [who was assaulted] in response to her asking for more help to address the issue, ‘If anyone can handle it, it’s you.’ As a result, 4 employees were assaulted and three of them were sent to the emergency room. [Two] received serious concussions and one [other] was injured as well. Another employee received a scratch where the skin was broken.”

“VSEA thanks VOSHA for its quick attention to this brutal assault on four hospital employees who were just trying to do their job, and we demand that the State and the Department of Mental Health take the necessary steps now, not tomorrow, to reduce the alarming number of patient-on-employee assaults at the VPCH and at every other Vermont health care facility…like the Vets’ Home, for example,” says VSEA President Dave Bellini. “No one should ever have to report to work every day with the very real expectation that they might be assaulted. This will never, ever be acceptable to VSEA and its members, and we trust the State and DMH agree and will work with VSEA members to end this violence against workers now.”

Bellini notes that VSEA did a public records request earlier this year and found that, in a year-and-a-half period prior to November 2016, more than 200 patient-on-employee incidents (some serious, most thankfully not) were recorded at the VPCH in files provided to the union by facility management. VSEA filed an additional records request this week to obtain records from November 2016 to present (Update: records are being reviewed on Tuesday, October 10).

Read VOSHA Letter Here (Names redacted by VSEA to protect injured employees’ identities)

“Talking Union”: A VSEA
Video Series

A few weeks back, WIA informed readers that the first in a series of video chats with frontline state employees had posted. It featured longtime Military Department employee Ed Thomas in the first of what the VSEA Communications Department hopes will be many face-to-face sit-downs with VSEA members to talk union and why every member needs to be engaged and informed.

For members who might not have seen VSEA’s September 26 Facebook post about the second in the video-series posting, featuring Reach Up Case Manager
Sue LaFleche.

View “Talking Union,” Episode 2 – Sue LaFleche (DCF–Reach Up)

VSEA members who want to appear on video to let the membership and public know what your union means to you and your family are urged to contact VSEA Communications Director Doug Gibson by completing this quick online form here.

Next Lamoille Valley Chapter Meeting Is October 19

VSEA’s Lamoille Valley Chapter will meet Thursday, October 19, beginning at 12:00 p.m. at the State Office Building, located at 63 Professional Drive in Morrisville. Food is being provided.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lamoille Valley Chapter President Aimee Towne via email: atowne@vsea.org.

White River Junction Chapter Holding Employee Appreciation Day Event On October 26

VSEA’s White River Junction Chapter is holding an Employee Appreciation Day event on Thursday, October 26, beginning at 11:00 a.m. at the State Office Building, located at 118 Prospect Street in WRJ. Food and beverages being provided.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact White River Junction Chapter President Don Shaw via email: don.shaw@vermont.gov.

VSEA Offers Deepest Condolences

VSEA is sending heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of 29-year VSEA member Jamie Benneig, a DOC Work Crew Leader stationed in St. Albans, and VSEA member Detra Mailhoit, who retired from state service in 2012 after working 24 years as a DOC employee in Rutland. Benneig courageously fought cancer for many years, but, sadly, he passed away on September 21, and Mailhoit was the passenger in a car crash this week on Route 100 that tragically took her life.

Sign Up Today For February 2018 VSEA Trip To TD Garden For Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs Game

Based on the popularity of the first few member bus trips sponsored by VSEA, your union’s Membership Recruitment Committee (a small group of rank-and-file state employees who coordinate and host VSEA’s outings) recently polled members to find out what kinds of bus trips you want the Committee to pursue in the future. Coming up number one was a trip to Boston for a Bruins game, so the Committee is wasting no time responding, scheduling the following:

VSEA Boston Bruins Bus Trip
Saturday, February 3, 2018
TD Garden, Boston
7:00 P.M.
Section: Balcony 321
$170 Per Person
Includes: Bus ride to and from TD Garden in Boston and a ticket to the game.

To reserve your seat(s), please send your non-refundable payment in full to Susan Devoid/Bob South at 155 State Street, Montpelier, VT.

If you have any questions, you can reach Susan/Bob by email at sdevoid@vsea.org/ bsouth@vsea.org or by phone at 223-5247.​

VSEA Insurance Benefits Enrollment In St. Johnsbury and Morrisville Next Week

Learn More Or Schedule An Appointment Today!

VSEA Insurance Representative Joanne Woodcock will be at the following locations to talk with interested VSEA members about member-only insurance benefits.

St. Johnsbury
Economic Services
Room 113
1016 US Route 5
October 11 and 12
12:00 to 4:00

Morrisville
Economic Services
63 Professional Drive
October 13
12:00 to 4:00

Receive information on disability coverage, family life insurance, family accident, cancer and hospital coverage. You must be a member paying full dues to be eligible for this VSEA benefit. If you are an agency-fee payer, Joanne can provide you information about signing up for full membership.

Email Joanne@vseainsurance.com for an appointment. Please provide your age, hourly wage and job description so I can send a quote BEFORE we meet.

Joanne Woodcock
VSEA Insurance Benefits Administrator
802-485-4820 (land line)
877-485-3374 (fax)
888-510-4467 (toll free)
800-638-6353 (info line)
Joanne@vseainsurance.com

State Instructs Departments & Agencies To “Level-Fund” For Fiscal
Year 2019

Initial budget requests are due to Greshin by October 19.

Unions Nationwide Sounding Alarm About Supreme Court’s Impending Janus vs. Illinois Ruling

A few years ago, WIA readers might remember seeing articles pop up about a court case named Friedrichs vs. California Teachers’ Association; a case public-sector unions feared could strip away their hard-won right to represent “non-members,” or in VSEA’s case, “agency-fee” payers. The case collapsed after the untimely death of Justice Scalia, who almost certainly would have voted against labor unions’ right to represent “non-members.” The Court’s 4-4 vote deadlock could not be broken, but now that a new Justice has been appointed, it can. For a new vote to occur, all that was required was for a new case about union dues to come before the Court, and it recently did, in the form of a case named Janus vs. Illinois.

Since the Supreme Court announced it would hear the Janus case, there has been a ton written about the lawsuit’s adverse implications for unions and, quite frankly, our nation’s workers as a whole. VSEA members are urged to educate yourself about the Janus case and what it might mean for Vermont state employees and all of America’s unionized public-sector workers—and eventually our nation’s unionized private-sector workers as well.

Here’s a sampling of some of the more recent Janus articles:

• law360: High Court’s 2nd Look May Doom Public Sector Union Fees
• Washington Examiner: Union leaders Criticize Supreme Court for Taking Dues Case
• LA Times: Supreme Court Poised to Deal a Sharp Blow to Unions for Teachers and Public Employees
• Albany Times Union: With Potential Supreme Court Ruling Pending, Unions Look to Shore Up Membership
• Chicago Tribune: Unions Will Face a Tough Challenge when the Supreme Court says ‘Yes!’ to Freeloaders

Note: VSEA is urging members to begin educating your co-workers about the importance of VSEA in the daily life of every Vermont state employee, be it through negotiated wage and benefit improvements, effective contract enforcement to resolve a workplace dispute, quality representation of your interests at the State House, an assurance of dignity and respect in the workplace, etc., etc. The time to remain silent about the importance of VSEA to you and your co-workers is rapidly coming to a close, so please do not delay. All a current state employee has to do is look at how life is for public employees in right-to-work states, or how life is for temporary workers right here in Vermont. Ask yourself, “Do I really want to give up everything that VSEA members have fought so hard to win for state employees in the union’s
73-year existence?”

And While The Court Is At It…

NPR reports this morning that the U.S. Supreme Court heard three cases this week to determine whether or not it is legal for companies to have employees sign an agreement that prevents them from participating in collective, or group, arbitrations against a company to resolve a workplace dispute.

"Most workers in the United States aren’t even aware of what arbitration is, never mind that they’ve signed this kind of agreement, maybe on their first day at work in a stack of papers, or maybe through clicking a box through their orientation materials," says Ceilidh Gao, an attorney for the National Employment Law Project, a workers’ rights group.

“Gao and others say collective action, whether it’s union organizing or class-action lawsuits, are a key tenet of labor law, with a long history of government protection. They argue employers should not be able to nullify that by inserting a clause in some paperwork.

Gao adds that most workers drop their cases, instead of going it alone, which means employers aren’t forced to correct systemic workplace violations.”

Private IT Vendor’s Security Breach Is Another Example Why Privatizing Services Is Often So Ricky

Census Bureau Breaks Down State Government Employment

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its comprehensive breakdown of state government employment as a whole nationwide—by service provided. The report also includes a state-by-state summary, and here’s Vermont’s breakdown in
the year 2016:

Education – 37%
Other – 15%
Public Welfare – 11%
Corrections – 8%
Highways – 7%
Health, Hospitals – 5%
Judicial, Legal – 5%
Financial Administration – 4%
Police – 4%
Natural Resources – 4%

NY Union Nurses Volunteer To Help In
Puerto Rico

The Albany Times Union reports today about a half-dozen Public Employee Federation (PEF) nurses working at state agencies and facilities in New York who volunteered to travel to Puerto Rico to assist with hurricane relief and were granted permission to do so.

“According to a Sept. 30 letter to union members from PEF President Wayne Spence, the half-dozen nurses are being asked to bring their own stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs, and were warned that they would be sleeping on cots during their stay on the devastated island.”

The volunteers leave Wednesday on a charter flight being paid for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Nebraska Corrections Workers Rally At Capitol
For Safety

Nebraska KETV reports September 30 on a September 29 rally at the Nebraska state capitol, conducted by frontline Corrections workers and their union. The protesting workers’ issues, such as inmate violence, understaffing and mandated overtime, mirror many of problems VSEA Corrections members have repeatedly asked Vermont lawmakers to address.

"I say every day I have never seen it this bad, and every day, it gets a little worse," said Carla Jorgens, a corporal officer at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

Jorgens is a 20-year veteran of the department and said she’s spent the last five years of her career hoping for change.

"We’re looking for it, we’re working for it, but we’re not getting it," Jorgens said, adding that the penitentiary is grossly understaffed, forcing employees to work 16-hour days multiple times a week.

"It’s not safe for the inmates, and it’s most definitely not safe for the staff," Jorgens said.

She also said staff members are hard to retain, explaining that new employees won’t stay because of mandatory overtime and veteran employees don’t have an incentive to.

"After 20 years of service, I make about $1.20 more an hour than a new hire does off the street today," Jorgens said.

To help VSEA more effectively reach active members—and really all those members who want to know what’s going on in their union—VSEA will be working hard in the coming months to collect members’ emails on its own and begin to build contact lists that cannot be altered by a State download.

You can help us get started by clicking here and signing up for the VSEA communications you are interested in receiving.

Thank you in advance for subscribing. Please urge your colleagues to do the same.