YOUR CHOICE FOR AN INDEPENDENT VOICE!

Representing 5300 members
including staff at the Vermont State Colleges

Students Stand with Staff

VSEA: Your Choice for an Independent Voice

Over the course of the spring semester, UVM staff members partnered with UVM students to discuss how we could work together to ensure that the University is accessible to students and is a more secure, respectful environment for staff to work.

In support of our efforts to unionize, hundreds of students have signed an open letter of support. In the letter, students speak to the common interest that we share:

"As UVM students, we support the efforts of staff to unionize with the Vermont State Employees' Association, an independent union here in Vermont.

We recognize that the quality of our experience and education at UVM is directly related to the quality of the staff. Simply put, UVM doesn't work unless they do. We believe that our education will only be strengthened when UVM staff have a real say in the decisions that affect their work environment, which is also our learning environment."

Click here to view the letter in its entirety and the hundreds of student signatures!

April 2014 UVM's Student Government Association

Overwhelmingly Passes a Resolution in Support of Staff Unionizing

Resolution in Support of the Right of Clerical, Technical, and Specialized Staff Employed by the University of Vermont to Organize a Union

Whereas, the University of Vermont employs nearly 800 clerical, technical, and specialized staff positions,

Whereas, these staff do not have a union to make democratic decisions that affect their work or employment,

Whereas, there is an interest among these staff to form a union under the Vermont State Employees' Association,

Whereas, these staff have expressed that they continue their employment largely based on the interest of serving students,

Whereas, a union would allow these staff to be able to make political gains within their contract to continue to best serve students under sustainable employment status,

Whereas, a union would allow these staff to make such gains using intelligent discourse with the administration at the University of Vermont to create a work environment that is free of fear and intimidation,

Whereas, the Student Government Association at the University of Vermont operates as a body to serve in the best interest of the students,

Be It Resolved, the Student Government Association at the University of Vermont is in support of the right of these the clerical, technical, and specialized staff employed by the University of Vermont to unionize.

Be It Further Resolved, the Student Government Association at the University of Vermont neither condemns nor supports the actions of any union that may form as a result of this resolution.

Staff work hard in support of students, and deserve reasonable salaries, secure benefits, and retirement with dignity. As UVM increases student tuition, it is also reducing staff positions, increasing workloads, and taking more money out of our paychecks to cover our benefits.

The entire UVM community suffers under these conditions.

When this is the result, one has to wonder, where are the administration's priorities?

READ MORE in a recent New York Times article about the links between college costs, student debt, and the soaring compensation of college presidents: NYTIMES ARTICLE

AND A BURLINGTON FREE PRESS article on student debt and the recent action in the Vermont Legislature: BFP article

The following is a letter from VSEA's elected President Shelley Martin about recent staff changes at VSEA:

Dear VSEA Members and Retirees:

Last week, VSEA's current Executive Director Mark Mitchell unfortunately announced to me and the Board of Trustees that he would not be renewing his employment contract and that he is actively seeking work with several unions in Florida, where he was born and raised. Sadly, Mark's father passed away last year, so Mark has made a very personal decision to return to Florida to care for his 84-year-old mother. The news of Mark's departure was reported to members in last week's

VSEA Week in Action, and a small story also appeared on May 12 in Seven Days.

We are all really going to miss Mark. Under his direction, VSEA has advanced greatly, becoming more transparent, democratic and powerful. Mark is also the respected staff leader behind VSEA's renewed efforts to: engage and empower more members; restore dignity and respect in worksites across Vermont; improve VSEA's internal and external focus; build new, stronger coalitions with other labor and community groups; and promote issues important to all working Vermonters. In addition, he has recruited a lot of smart and energized people to join the VSEA headquarters' staff, and this is benefitting VSEA members every day.

While I am sorry Mark has decided to relocate to Florida, I want assure every VSEA member that your union leadership is committed to filling the Executive Director position in a timely and orderly fashion. As a matter of fact, the process to replace Mark has already begun, and VSEA's Personnel Committee and staff representatives hope to begin interviewing qualified candidates soon. Let me be clear that your Board and President want to continue to embrace Mark's vision, and we will be looking hard to find a candidate who is a quick study, shares Mark's vision, knows the public sector well and can hit the ground running. It won't be easy, but we're confident a suitable candidate with all these attributes can be found.

Change is never easy and it does come with certain challenges, but remember that the VSEA Executive Director is just one member of the much larger VSEA family. I would remind you too that VSEA has changed directors several times in the past few years, and we have survived each transition. Why? Because VSEA's true leaders are really the elected, rank-and-file members who meet regularly to steer VSEA policy and determine the union's priorities.

Your VSEA President and Board of Trustees remain committed to building off the important platforms Mark helped us establish, like increased member engagement, better internal communication, strong and meaningful public awareness campaigns, improved external outreach to non-unionized workers, ramped up mobilization around political and legislative efforts and so much more. Working together, we will get through this transition and continue to move VSEA forward, growing stronger and stronger each step of the way.

In Solidarity,

Shelley Martin

President, VSEA

MORE ABOUT VSEA

What Is the Vermont State Employees' Association?

The Vermont State Employees' Association is an independent union of over 5,300 Vermont workers that have joined together to have a voice in the decisions that affect our jobs.

In addition to the clerical and technical staff at the Vermont State Colleges, our union consists of state employees.

At the core of the union's program is the work that members and staff do together to bargain contracts with management and ensure that these agreements are upheld in each of our workplaces.

VSEA has a team of professional staff to support members in enforcing

the contracts, training workplace stewards, carrying out direct action on key issues, lobbying, communications and legal support.