VSEA State Housing Authority Unit Overwhelmingly Ratifies New Three-Year Agreement

A week after reaching a tentative contract agreement with the State Housing Authority, VSEA State Housing Authority Unit members met at headquarters Monday night and voted overwhelmingly to accept the new, three-year deal.

Congratulations VSEA State Housing Authority Unit!

VSEA’s website will post the VSHA contract to its website, once its finalized and signed. VSEA’s website will also be posting the NMU, Corrections and Supervisory Unit contracts once they are finalized, which could be as late as November due to all the last-minute turmoil associated with the VLRB process and subsequent mediation.

NMU, Corrections and Supervisory Unit members can view a summary of the changes to their contract here.

VSEA NMU Members’ Online Ballot To Vote In Unit Elections Being Emailed October 5!

On October 5, VSEA’s Elections, Rules and Nominating Committee is emailing an online voting link to all eligible members belonging to VSEA’s Non-Management Unit. As in recent elections, the firm SimplyVoting will be emailing the link to you. Completed Non-Management Unit ballots will be due back by close of business Friday, October 19.

If you requested a paper ballot, it is being mailed to you.

Very important! Your electronic ballot is being sent to the primary email address that VSEA currently has on file for you. If you do not receive an email from vote@simplyvoting.com on October 5, please look in your “Other” or “Spam” folders before contacting headquarters to request that your ballot be reissued.

VSEA Says Goodbye To Retiring Waterbury Chapter President John Mangione

After presiding over his final Waterbury Chapter meeting this week, VSEA is saying goodbye to long-time VSEA activist and current Chapter President John Mangione, who is retiring from state government today. John worked as an IT Specialist with the Agency of Digital Services in Waterbury.

VSEA thanks John for his service to his union and to Vermont, and we wish him all the best in retirement.

Mental Health Commissioner Departing

Already dealing with fears and worries about their future employment, VSEA members working at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin were dealt a new blow this week when Department of Mental Health Commissioner Melissa Bailey announced she was leaving the post at the end of October and moving back to Philadelphia, Pa. Bailey was appointed DMH Commissioner in 2017.

According to a September 25 Seven Days story, AHS Secretary Al Gobeille will be working to hire a replacement “right away,” and VSEA and its VPCH members hope he is sincere because this latest turnover in management at the facility will once again hinder the employees ability to deliver the critical service they provide in a consistent manner. Gobeille says DMH Deputy Commissioner Mourning Fox will serve as Commissioner in the interim. “In mental health, there has to be an interim, I feel,” Gobeille says. “We run a hospital. We run a secure residential facility. There has to be a leader that does that.”

Calling All VSEA Campaign 2018 Volunteers!

In the weeks leading up to Vermont’s November 6 general election, VSEA Legislative Committee members, HQ staff and retirees will be soliciting for members and retirees who want to volunteer some time to assist candidates who have received VSEA’s endorsement and who deserve our support.

There are many ways for you to participate in VSEA’s Campaign 2018 activities, including:

• Participate in a VSEA- or candidate-sponsored phone bank;
   
• Participate in a VSEA- or candidate-sponsored honk-and-wave;
   
• Participate in a VSEA- or candidate-sponsored door-to-door canvassing effort;
   
• Participate in a VSEA- or candidate-sponsored candidate(s) rally;
   
• Educate your family, friends and colleagues about the candidate and his/her positions on issues important to VSEA members;
   
• March with a candidate in a parade;
   
• Volunteer to help at a candidate’s headquarters (if applicable) with things like answering phones, filing, assembling educational packets/mailings, etc.;
   
• Put a yard sign in your yard, or help the candidate distribute signs in your area;
   
• Host a candidate house party;
   
• Drive voters to the polls on Election Day;
   
• Pen a letter to the editor in support of VSEA-endorsed candidate(s); and
   
• Make a monetary contribution to a candidate(s).

If you would be interested in volunteering some time to help your union’s campaign 2018 efforts, please contact VSEA Organizing Director Ray Stout by email (rstout@vsea.org), or by phone at 223-5247.

IMPORTANT!! In order to keep members and retirees as up to date as possible on all VSEA’s Campaign 2018 activities, VSEA must have your updated HOME email address. VSEA cannot send emails of a political nature, such as campaign announcements about the union’s endorsed candidates, to state email addresses. If you are unsure, or don’t remember ever providing VSEA with your most up-to-date home email, please take time today to submit your name and home email address to VSEA@VSEA.org (please write “Home Email” in the subject space).

2018 General Election Early & Absentee Voting Has Begun

SOS’s “Voting by Early or Absentee Ballot”

VSEA’s 2018 Endorsed Candidate List

Limited Number Of Seats Remain For VSEA Bus Trip To NJ To See Patriots Battle The Jets

Ticket + Bus Cost: $172 per person

To register or if you have a question, please email VSEA Union Representative Bob South (bsouth@vsea.org) or Administrative Assistant Sue DeVoid (sdevoid@vsea.org). Each can be also reached by phone at 802-223-5247.

More Information

Reserve Your Seat(s) Today For VSEA November
Bus Trip To Foxwoods Casino!

November 30 to December 2, 2018

There are still seats left on the bus for the VSEA Membership Recruitment Committee’s November trip to the Foxwoods Casino for a two-night stay.

More Information

To register or if you have a question, please email VSEA Union Representative Bob South (bsouth@vsea.org) or Administrative Assistant Sue DeVoid (sdevoid@vsea.org). Each can be also reached by phone at 802-223-5247.

Bolton Valley Again Offering “Industry Rate” To VSEA Members On 2018-19
All-Access Season Passes

All VSEA members in good standing are eligible to purchase a pass or passes. You can purchase yours today by first contacting VSEA by email at vsea@vsea.org. VSEA will verify your membership status and provide you with VSEA’s code, which you will need to complete your online purchase.

Once you have the required code:

• Click here;
   
• Click “Buy Online”;
   
• In the “Cart View,” click on “Add / Change Guest” to set the pass-holder’s name and information to each pass, then;
   
• Click “Proceed to Checkout”;
   
• Enter VSEA’s promotional code and click “Apply Code.” The cart should refresh and reflect your discount.

Pricing:

Adult (18+): $379 / $429

Youth w/Adult (7-17): $159 / $179

Youth (7-17): $199 / $239

Senior (65-74): $229 / $239

Child (6 and under): $29 / $29

Ski Bum (18-25): $179 / $279

Not Seeing
VSEA In Your Facebook News Feed?

Set VSEA’s Page To "See First"

VSEA’s Facebook posts may not be appearing in your feed. But fear not, Facebook provides a way to prioritize your favorite pages, so you can ensure you don’t miss VSEA’s posts. It’s an easy process:
 

1. Navigate to VSEA’s Facebook page;
    
2. Towards the left of the page, below the big cover photo, click the “Following” button. A drop-down menu should appear; and
    
3. In the drop down menu, select,
   “See First”.

That’s it! Now Facebook will prioritize VSEA’s posts in your news feed so you won’t miss a thing!

AFSCME Represented Workers At Howard Center File ULP, Alleging “Coercive Statements” Intended To Squelch Employee Cooperation In An NLRB Investigation

Hundreds of workers at the Howard Center in Burlington head into negotiations with management next week, but it’s an unfair labor practice (ULP) the AFSCME-represented workers filed this week against management that’s making headlines right now.

AFSCME Local 1674 filed the ULP, alleging that management used “coercive statements” to make workers think twice before participating in a formal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigation “into a charge recently filed by a terminated probationary employee.” A September 26 Seven Days story reports AFSCME President Matt Callahan wrote, “Here we assert that Human Resources and Management cannot and shall not order Union workers to refuse to cooperate in Labor Board investigations.”

Bargaining on a new labor agreement for the Howard Center workers begins next week, and both sides are indicating that the ULP will not hinder the negotiating process.

Secretary Of State Calls For Easier Way For Vermonters To Appeal Public Records’ Denials

VPR reports on September 25 that Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos is publicly calling on lawmakers to create an ombudsman position to consider all appeals of public record denials. Currently, Vermonters have to go to court to appeal a denial and try to get it overturned.

"[My proposal] would offer [an] intermediary appeal point for citizens of the state of Vermont when they’re denied access to public records or if there’s an open meeting violation—or they believe an open meeting violation—to get some kind of an opinion on it,” Condos tells VPR.

“VSEA files a number of public records requests in a given year, so we understand how important Secretary Condos’ proposal is to ensuring Vermonters are not being denied the right to view documents that maybe they should be able to see,” says VSEA Communications Director Doug Gibson, who files many of VSEA’s public records requests. “Creating the position makes a lot of sense, and VSEA hopes lawmakers agree.”

St. Albans Nurses Seek Union Representation

VTDigger reports on September 27 that nurses at Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to launch a union organizing campaign.

The nurses say they are okay with their salaries and that their desire to organize is driven by their desire to make the hospital a better and safer place for them to work.

“Our managers are great, they do the best they can to support us and advocate for our units,” one nurse tells the reporter. “We simply feel that we can help them do their jobs better by organizing and setting policy in place through a fair contract.” She adds, “We want resources from the hospital not to go into our paychecks but to go back into the things we need. We need the tools.”

Note: Solidarity from VSEA!

Teachers Union In Caledonia Files ULP Against Superintendent

VTDigger reports September 26 on Vermont National Education Association (NEA)-represented teachers in the Caledonia Cooperative Supervisory Union filing an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against their superintendent for “threatening to fire employees for publicly disseminating a staff survey critical of his performance.”

From the story:

In an unfair labor charge filed with the Vermont Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, the union argues that an email exchange between the district’s attorney, Burlington lawyer Pietro Lynn, with the Vermont-NEA’s counsel amounted to “interfering, restraining, and coercing employees from engaging in protected union activities.”

“The main problems is he does not lead through collaboration. He just decides what he wants, and that’s what’s on his agenda. Anybody who disagrees with him is either ignored or bullied,” Douglas said.