Week In Action Will Not Publish Next Week, July 3

Due to the Fourth of July holiday, VSEA will not publish next week. Have a Happy Fourth of July!

Check Your Mailbox Soon For VSEA 71^st Annual Meeting Registration Forms

 
VSEA’s Special Events Committee has finalized the registration form to attend the union’s 2015 Annual Meeting on September 12 at the Jay Peak Resort in Jay, and the forms will go out in the mail next week. You can also download a registration form by clicking here (Opens a PDF). This year, the Committee is sponsoring a special wild west-themed event on Friday night, September 11. 

Your registration form must be mailed to VSEA HQ by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, August 7. Members who do not complete the registration form will not be provided meals at the Annual Meeting, as members must indicate their meal selections on the form in advance.

Who Will Win VSEA’s 2015 Outstanding Performance Awards?

Make Your Nomination Today!

1. VSEA Chapter of the Year;
    
2. VSEA Steward of the Year;
    
3. The Mazza Award:
   For Outstanding Service to VSEA;
    
4. The Macaig Award:
   For Outstanding Public Service; and
    
5. The Linda Coan Memorial Award: Outstanding VSEA Staff Member

 
Click here to submit your nominations online or download and print nomination forms!

All nominations must be received before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, August 7, 2015.

Winners announced at Annual Meeting on September 12.

NMU Looking To Fill Bargaining Team Vacancy

A reminder that VSEA Non-Management Unit Chairperson Bob Stone is actively looking to fill an open Bargaining Team position:
 

• NMU Bargaining Team – Engineering & Technical Support

VSEA NMU members interested in any of the above positions are asked to send a letter of interest by close of business Friday, July 10, 2015, to:
 
Bob Stone
NMU Chairperson
c/o VSEA
155 State St.
Montpelier, VT 05602
 
You can also send an email of interest to rstone@vsea.org

VSEA Members Urged To Sign Union’s “Respect & Dignity” Petition

Earlier this month, VSEA began circulating a “Respect and Dignity” petition to support VSEA members’ right to collectively bargain and to demand respect for the process and your contract. This is in anticipation of the tough fight for a fair contract we expect this year at the bargaining table. It’s also in response to the actions of some elected officials and lawmakers in recent months.

Remember that early in the session, the State repeatedly demanded VSEA members’ reopen their contracts and discuss concessions, effectively trying, once again, to balance Vermont’s budget deficit on workers’ backs. Additionally, several legislators, including the chairs of the House Appropriations and Government Operations Committees, penned an unsolicited letter to provide advice to the State on how to achieve labor savings in negotiations.

By signing the “Respect and Dignity” petition, you’re helping your VSEA Bargaining Teams demonstrate the membership’s level of support for ending the State’s consistent asks for a reopeners and for preventing more interference by lawmakers. You’re also helping VSEA send a strong message that your contract is a legally binding document (much like ski resort leases) that was negotiated in good faith.

Already, hundreds of your VSEA brothers and sisters have signed the petition, but we need many, many more, which is why this signature-gathering effort is being conducted throughout the summer. Members who want to help with the petition drive are encouraged to download a copy here and start getting colleagues to sign. You can send your completed petition to KWarner@VSEA.org.

Many of you who were union leaders and activists during VSEA’s Fight Back Campaign have received—or will soon receive—a packet in the mail with the petition and more information. Many of you will also be contacted by VSEA Organizers to talk about this petition and other ways you can support your Bargaining Teams in the coming weeks and months.

UVM Medical Center Nurses In Tough Contract Fight

VSEA is sending best wishes to nurses working the University of Vermont’s Medical Center in Burlington. The nurses are entering the final weekend of contract negotiations, trying to reach an agreement by Monday. Frontline nurse Laurie Aunchman told reporters on June 24 that “So far, the proposals of the hospital have been less than optimal.” The nurses are asking for safe staffing levels and for a fair wage that allows the facility to recruit and retain the best nurses possible and cuts down on having to pay an estimated $22,000 to $65,000 to replace a nurse. “We are looking for a wage that is respectable for the work that we do.”

“VSEA has supported the nurses’ call for safe staffing levels for years now because it’s the right thing to do and because our members working at health care facilities want the same,” VSEA President Shelley Martin explained to WIA. “VSEA stands in solidarity with the UVM nurses, and we wish their negotiating team all the best in these next few days.”   

The UVM Medical Center nurses have not ruled out a strike.

Tuesday (June 30) Is Deadline To Self-Nominate For VSEA Departmental Council Seat

VSEA Elections, Rules and Nominating Committee Chair Mary Poulos is reminding VSEA members that time is running out to self-nominate for a VSEA departmental Council seat.

All departmental Council seats are open, and current terms will expire on September 30, 2015. The deadline to submit a self-nomination form is Tuesday, June 30, 2015.
 
You can find a self-nominating form by clicking here. (Opens/ downloads as a PDF)

With more than 120 VSEA members, the VSEA Council is one of your union’s primary governing bodies and its largest and most diverse, with departmental representatives from across state government. The Council meets quarterly and retains a right to override decisions made by the VSEA Board of Trustees.

Questions? Please contact VSEA Administrative Assistant Ayla Hudson at 802-223-5247, or by email at ahudson@vsea.org.

To determine the best fit for you, click here to view a complete list of the number of Council seats available, by departmental heading.

Lamoille Valley Chapter Renews Call For Members To March In Morrisville’s July 4 Parade.

All Members Statewide Welcome!

VSEA’s Lamoille Valley Chapter has a great opportunity at this year’s annual Morrisville Fourth of July 4 Parade to show House Speaker Shap Smith and other local politicians that state employees are united and prepared to stand strong in defense of the services we provide. That’s because Smith and other elected officials will be marching in the parade, and so will we! The parade also affords us an opportunity to take our message to the public and enlist their support in our fight for the Governor and lawmakers to adopt a responsible budgeting process. 
 
The Lamoille Valley Chapter is inviting all state employees (especially those who live and work in the  Lamoille Valley) to march with the Chapter in this year’s parade. Here are the details:

• Parade theme is an ‘All American Holiday’;
• Being held on Saturday, July 4;
• Beginning at 9:30 a.m., floats/marchers will be lining up at the Community College of Vermont Morrisville Campus. The parade begins promptly at 11:00 a.m. and it ends at the Peoples Academy High School; and
• VSEA members are urged to wear green!

Come to have a great time!

Questions? Email the Lamoille Chapter’s Aimee Towne at aimee.kelley@hotmail.com, or call her at 802-793-4754

Chittenden Chapter Schedules Sixth Annual “Night at the Vermont Lake Monsters” & Pre-Game Barbeque For
July 24!

Prior to the Chittenden Chapter’s sixth annual “Night at the Lake Monsters” game on Friday, July 24, the Chapter is pleased to once again be hosting a barbeque for VSEA members in the VDH Lab parking lot at 195 Colchester Ave. All VSEA members and their families attending the July 24 game are invited to drop by the Chapter’s barbeque beforehand to enjoy a free meal and a beverage. The grill fires up at 5:30 p.m. Haynes reminds that parking is not permitted in the Lab’s lot, nor is alcohol. This year, the Lake Monsters will square off at 7:05 p.m. against the Connecticut Tigers.

How To Get Tickets

VSEA members belonging to any Chapter statewide can reserve two tickets per member up until Friday, July 17. After that, tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Chittenden President Kara Haynes will keep a list of members wanting more than two tickets initially, and she will follow-up with these requests after the July 17 deadline to reserve has passed and she is able to determine how many tickets remain.  

If you are a VSEA member wanting to reserve your two tickets, please contact Chittenden Chapter President Kara Haynes by phone at 557-1227 or email her at kara.haynes@state.vt.us. 

Barre Chapter Annual Meeting Is August 6 

The Barre Chapter has scheduled its Chapter Annual Meeting for 5:00 p.m., Thursday, August 6, at the Quarry Restaurant in downtown Barre. There’s a full agenda, including the nomination and election of all Chapter officers. The Chapter is also hoping to fill a vacant Council seat at the meeting as well.

Chapter President Sue LaFleche is asking members interested in running for office to please contact her prior to the meeting by emailing her at Suzanne.Lafleche@state.vt.us. If you are interested in running for office, but can’t attend the August 6 meeting, please also contact Sue.

 “I am always looking to hear from our Barre Chapter members,” reminds LaFleche. “What are your concerns or interests? Let’s organize some worksite meetings and talk.”

VSEA Activists’ Curtis Awards’ Petition Effort Nets 81 Signatures!

True to their word, VSEA activists John Howe and Joanie Maclay spent last Friday night at the Sheraton Hotel in South Burlington, collecting 81 petition signatures from supportive Democrats at the annual Curtis Awards Dinner. The petition being circulated was a frontline workers’ response to letter penned in mid-April by the Democrat chairs of two powerful House committees, which contained several unsolicited suggestions for how to lower labor costs through the collective bargaining process.
 
Howe shared his petitioning experience with WIA:

“I think that petitioning Democrats at their largest annual event and putting the House Appropriations and Government Operations Chairpersons’ letter on all the banquet tables was just the right the kind of action for the Curtis Award Dinner. Sister [Joan] Maclay and I got many of the Party’s leaders to sign the petition, including five members of the VDP Executive Committee, a former VDP Chair and two statewide office holders. It really shows us who our friends are in the Party. Joanie and I got 81 signatures during the hour that we canvased before the dinner started. If we had more members present I am sure we could have gotten many more. It was a good use of VSEA dues to sponsor a table so that we could get in the door. Petitioning was a great way to have a short one-on-one conversation with rank-and-file Democrats about the Chairs’ proposed assault on our collective bargaining. As state workers we need to keep constant public pressure on all politicians: we need to actually hold them accountable to vote pro labor when they say they are pro labor.” 
 
He continued: “A follow-up to this action is that Speaker Smith—when approached with the petition—agreed to meet with VSEA members to discuss our concerns.  This is a huge step toward having member-initiated lobbying. I believe the Chairs wanted to keep their attacks on our contracts hidden, but petitioning brings their attempt out into the open and hopefully will scare Democrats from doing it again. Keeping this out in front is more democratic (little D). This summer, as we go to Fourth of July and other Vermont Summer Festivals where politicians are as abundant as mosquitoes, I hope more members approach their reps and senators, especially those who did not support us last session, and confront them on their positions.”

VSEA Meets With DEC Members Impacted By Reorganization

 
A VSEA organizer, union representatives, the Executive Director and VSEA President Shelley Martin attended a June 23 meeting in Barre of impacted Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) employees to talk about the ramifications of an email they recently received from their commissioner, informing the workers their shop is being reorganized. Washington County Sen. Anthony Pollina also attended the meeting.

The email read: “Dear DEC: As I reported earlier, we were directed to cut $722,000 from our budget for fiscal year 2016 (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016). To meet this obligation, I am reorganizing the Regional Office Program of the Drinking Water and Groundwater Protection Division by reassigning the duties of ten of our people in that program. Over the coming months, they will be transferred into a different program or division and, in some cases, to a different location.  The people who are affected have all been notified.”

“I work for DEC, so I personally know the people affected by this decision, and I want to help them achieve the best possible outcome,” Martin tells WIA, adding that the workers think the decision will lead to more problems. “According to what I heard today, these workers believe that breaking up the Barre DEC team is going to draw out the length of time it takes to process permits, which could actually lead to decreased revenue for the state because the DEC workers won’t be processing as many permits.”

The Barre DEC workers told VSEA reps that the reorganization will reduce the permitting staff from five to three, and they warned about angry clients who could have to wait up the three times longer to complete the process. As for the staff, they say they are demoralized and their stress levels have increased. They also worry about losing seasoned workers to other programs and how that will impact their own workloads and productivity. They were also upset about the increased number of exempt employee they say ANR has hired—and is still hiring. Senator Pollina gave his full support to the DEC workers and promised to remind people that the State just a few months ago was trumpeting how it was moving employees into Barre, but that now they are taking them out.

The workers discussed several ways to address the situation and agreed on some steps to take in the coming days and weeks to educate politicians and the public about the ramifications of breaking up the Barre DEC office. These include drafting letters to key elected officials and the media, trying to schedule a face-to-face meeting with the ANR commissioner and filing freedom of information requests to learn about certain costs. 

WIA will keep readers updated on this story, as it continues to develop.

Senator Pollina Pens Letter To DEC Commissioner

Sen. Pollina shared this letter he wrote to DEC Commissioner David Mears on June 26, asking many of the questions generated at the meeting he attended earlier in the week. VSEA thanks Pollina for his support.

I am concerned about the proposed movement of workers from the Barre regional office of the Department of Environmental Conservation to offices in Montpelier. This move will impact State employees and their families, services available to people from surrounding communities and the Barre economy.

I recently met with employees of the Barre office and on behalf of those workers, and myself, I would appreciate your response to the following questions and concerns:

What specific savings are associated with the move from the McFarlane Office Building in Barre to the National Life building in Montpelier? What are the costs of operating in the current space versus rental of new space, including equipment costs ( specialized scanning equipment etc.), utilities, parking, security systems and other expenses, incurred by workers and the State?

What specific space is currently available at National Life and how will it meet our office needs?

What impact will moving the office from Barre have on our customers, the regulated community (citizens, engineers, designers and others) we serve, who frequently visit the Barre office?

Will there be an impact on the time needed to issue permits?

Will these moves lead to further moves and the eventual closing of the Barre office?

What impact will moving workers have on Barre merchants and the the Barre economy?

I understand this decision will likely be justified as the result of legislated budget cuts. I remind you that the Vermont State Employees Association, offered several ideas to raise revenue to avoid cutting services and I am sure they are willing to explore savings to avoid any dislocation of Barre workers and services.

I look forward to your response. I am also sure the workers would appreciate meeting to discuss these concerns.

Solid Proof Exists To Rebut Vermont Economist’s Hypothesis About How Staffing Levels Impact Corrections’ Costs

 
In a June 24 Burlington Free Press story, UVM Professor and Economist Art Woolf openly ponders why, in his opinion, Vermont Corrections’ costs are high. One of the theories Woolf openly floats is that the may simply be too many DOC staff, writing, “It’s also possible that Vermont’s prisons are overstaffed. In that regard Vermont prisons may be like its schools. In education we have very high per pupil costs because we have a lot of teachers compared to most states. In prisons we could have high costs per inmate because we have a lot of staff.” Woolf does catch himself later in the quote, adding “I’m not convinced the overstaffing explanation holds. The numbers don’t suggest that Vermont has a large number of corrections employees given the number of inmates in our prisons.” Well, you’re right Mr. Woolf, but VSEA is still encouraging its DOC members to draft letters to the editor to remind the revered economist about a study provided to legislators this year that showed a need currently exists for the DOC to hire 58 additional corrections officers, primarily for safety reasons. VSEA members can read about the report here.

U.S. Supreme Court To Decide Soon On Whether Or Not To Take Case That Could Really Harm Public Sector Unions

The Associated Press published a story on June 24 that reports the U.S. Supreme Court is currently debating whether or not to hear a “high-profile legal challenge” (Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association)that could severely impact the ability of VSEA and other public-sector unions to effectively represent members.

The Court is deciding if it will hear a group of California schoolteachers’ challenge to a 1977 Supreme Court ruling titled Aboud v. Detroit Board of Education, which permitted unions to collect “bargaining costs” from workers who choose not to join the union, as long as the money was not used for political purposes.

According to the story, America’s public-sector unions have good reason to be concerned about the challenge, as the Court “raised serious doubts about the viability of Aboud” when it ruled in 2014 that thousands of Illinois homecare workers could not be required to pay union dues that cover collective bargaining. However, the story also points out that the Court has been reluctant to overturn longstanding court precedent.
 
In the story, a spokesperson for the California Teachers Association sums up his belief for why this challenge is being advanced, saying, “I think it’s an attempt to reduce our numbers, reduce our clout and reduce our revenue streams.” He’s right.

WIA will keep readers updated on what the Court decides.