Woodside Workers Present Alternatives To Facility Closure. State Waits On RFP Process.
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A group of VSEA members working at the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center returned to the State House this week to continue testifying in various committees about the critical service they provide to Vermont's at-risk youth and to begin educating lawmakers about the three alternatives they have to the State's proposal to shutter their facility. The alternatives are gaining some traction, especially given the State's reliance on the "Request for Proposal" process to produce a viable replacement to Woodside. Reportedly, the RFP process, to date, is not producing a viable replacement, but that could change. We'll see. Results of the RFP process are expected on February 28.
Here is a summary of three alternatives the frontline Woodside workers are asking lawmakers to consider for their facility, as opposed to closing it:
Secure Option A – 6 to 8 Beds
- Cheapest Option;
- Short-Term Stabilization;
- One to 30 day Maximum;
- One Operational Unit;
- Utilize Additional Space For State Needs (i.e. Call Center)
Secure Option B – 12 to 15 Beds
- Short-Term Stabilization;
- One to 30 day Maximum;
- Increase In Staffing & Operational Costs;
- Utilize Additional Space For State Needs (i.e. Call Center)
Secure Option C – Split-Unit
- Most Expensive Option;
- One Unit Dedicated To Short-Term (Same Maximum Stay As Options A&B);
- One Unit Dedicated To Long-Term Care, To Include Treatment & Additional Services
Help The Woodside Workers Educate Lawmakers That There Is A Viable Alternative To Closure!
The Woodside workers and VSEA will be doing everything possible between now and February 28 (date RFP bids are due) to educate lawmakers about the three viable alternatives to closing Woodside and about all the questions surrounding who will provide care and treatment to Vermont's most at-risk youth. if not the dedicated workers at Woodside?
Support the Woodside workers by contacting your local lawmakers today. Urge them to support one of the Woodside workers' alternatives and not to close this critically important facility for Vermont's at-risk kids.
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Steward's Box:
Upcoming Steward Trainings:
Judiciary Steward Training
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
8:30 a.m. -3:00 p.m.
Montpelier -VSEA
155 State Street
Colleges' Steward Training
Thursday, March 26, 2020
8:30 a.m. -3:00 p.m.
Montpelier -VSEA
155 State Street
Please RSVP to VSEA Administrative Assistant Sue DeVoid at: sdevoid@vsea.org or call 802-223-5247.
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Join Us For The 2020 Legislative Reception!
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- Thursday, February 20 -
Annual Legislative Reception in the Cedar Creek Room of the Vermont State House!
Starting at 4:30 p.m.
VSEA's annual legislative reception in the historic Cedar Creek Room of the Vermont State House. This is VSEA member's chance to grab a drink and hors d'oeuvres and talk with your lawmakers about important issues and concerns at work.
RSVP Today Online!
View/Download Flyer
Facebook Event Page
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Calls Needed! Fight To Raise Vermont's Minimum Wage Moves To House.
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VTDigger reports this morning on yesterday's 24-6 vote in the Vermont Senate to override the State's recent veto of a bill to increase the state's minimum wage. The Senate override means the bill is now forwarded to the House for its own override vote. When the minimum wage bill passed initially in the House, it did not have enough votes to override a State veto, so your calls and emails are needed today to your local House members!
Find Your House Members' Contact Information
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P&P Members Continue Push For Passage Of S. 289
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VSEA Probation & Parole members were back at the State House again this week to lobby Senators on S. 289; legislation that would allow P&P Officers to carry a weapon if they choose. Pictured here, lobbying Sen. Joe Benning (hand on chin) are VSEA members Mike Arace, Eugene Hitchcock, Casey Leahy and Justin Hanson.
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Show Your Support For VSEA Judiciary Unit Members As They Head To Contract Meditation!
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Sign The Workers' Petition!
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VSEA Thanks Member For Serving In The Vermont House
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VTDigger reports this week on Rep. Matt Trieber's (D-Rockingham) announcement that he is resigning from the Vermont House, effective this week or next. Trieber, a VSEA member, is a transition counselor with VOC Rehab in Springfield. On Tuesday, from the floor of the House, he told his colleagues that he is resigning to ensure his clients, who are high school students with disabilities, are being served.
“I meet with [my clients] and figure out how to prepare them for whatever they want to do after graduation,” Trieber explained. “I was facing the prospect of them being without transition counseling for the majority of their senior year.”
According to the story, "Trieber was appointed to the House in 2011 by then-Gov. Peter Shumlin. He replaced Michael Obuchowski, who resigned to take a position in Shumlin’s cabinet. During his five terms, Trieber became a valuable member of House leadership, serving for several years on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee."
VSEA Executive Director Steve Howard told WIA he respects Trieber's decision and thanked him for his service at the State House and for his dedication to his clients.
"Matt was a great advocate for state employees, while serving in the House," says Howard. "He helped VSEA members defeat a proposed 5% cut to positions, get the Pay Act passed and assisted us with converting 24 temporary DCF positions to full-time. He will be missed at the State House, but he's definitely leaving for a very good reason and in addition to thanking Matt for his years of service at the State House, VSEA also says a big thanks for his continued service to Vermonters."
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BGS Will Begin Testing Drinking Water In State Office Buildings In May Or June
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In December 2019, Buildings and General Services (BGS) reached out to VSEA Executive Director Steve Howard to let him know that the department will begin testing drinking water in state office buildings across Vermont in 2020, adding that the testing will continue for the next two years.
According to the latest update from BGS, testing is scheduled to begin in May or June. Until then, BGS says its Operations & Maintenance Division is actively gathering data on state buildings' plumbing systems and inventorying each's building's drinking water taps
WIA will update members with more on BGS' water testing, especially where and when water is being tested and, more important, what the results were.
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VtNEA Teachers Join VSEA In Delaying Any Decision On OneCare, Citing Too Many Unknowns
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Three months after VSEA publicly balked at the prospect of the membership being placed into OneCare, which is Vermont's "all-payer" health care system, the Vermont NEA announced this week that the union is also delaying any decision on OneCare.
“Our members have heard the word [OneCare], but it’s kind of meaningless to them,” VtNEA's spokesperson tells VTDigger in a story about the decision. “It has no direct, discernible effect on teachers.”
Back in November 2019, VSEA Executive Director Steve Howard responded to the idea of state employees joining OneCare with a warning that members wouldn't be used to "help prop up an untested health care experiment, adding, "Someone else’s crisis is not our emergency." Howard explains that VSEA wants to wait to join until OneCare has been audited by the state, and until there's assurance that the organization is fiscally strong. State Auditor Doug Hoffer is working on two reports about OneCare, but his bid to conduct a full audit of the company was blocked by the Legislature earlier this year.
“We have some of the best health care in the country,” Howard ends. “We don’t want to screw that up just to pursue someone else’s agenda.”
Note: VSEA's Benefits Advisory Committee continues to press OneCare officials hard for actual operating and financial data. Blue Cross / Blue Shield representatives are also being asked to furnish pertinent data.
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Quote Of
The Week!
"A defensive measure to hold off paid family leave."
Vermont Rep. Robin Scheu, commenting in a PEW Trust story this week on her perceived view of why the State of Vermont implemented a "bring your infant to work" policy in advance of rejecting a proposed paid family-and-medical-leave-for-all bill. The all-in Vermont bill's failure is used as an example to highlight the fact that the United States is the only industrialized country in the world without a paid family leave policy
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Franklin Grand Isle
Wednesday, February 19
4:45 p.m.
Mimmo's Restaurant
22 S. Main Street
St. Albans
For more information please feel free to contact F / GI Chapter President Janine Cary, janinecary1983@gmail.com
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State Of Utah Funding Employee Trips To Mexico To Purchase Prescription Drugs - First Of Its Kind Program
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From story this week in the Herald Journal News:
Ann Lovell had never owned a passport before last year. Now, the 62-year-old teacher is a frequent flier, traveling every few months to Tijuana, Mexico, to buy medication for rheumatoid arthritis — with tickets paid for by the state of Utah’s public insurer.
Lovell is one of about 10 state workers participating in a year-old program to lower prescription drug costs by having public employees buy their medication in Mexico at a steep discount compared to U.S. prices. The program appears to be the first of its kind, and is a dramatic example of steps states are taking to alleviate the high cost of prescription drugs.
Note: As some Vermont lawmakers and officials have mentioned, our state is as close to Canada as you can get.
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NY Corrections Officers' Union Wants To End "Double-Bunking"
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The Albany Times Union reported this week on a press conference held by the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association to call attention to their opposition to the practice of double-bunking inmates in medium security facilities.
From the story:
“Since 2014, the violence that’s perpetrated inside the jails has risen close to 70 percent with a smaller inmate population,” Mike Powers, president of NYSCOPBA, said in a recent interview.
Powers said that the prison population, in addition to being cramped in tighter spaces, is growing increasingly violent because low-level offenders are not incarcerated as frequently due to criminal justice reforms. “We’re dealing with strictly violent gang members,” he said, noting that double-bunking results in two inmates being confined to a cubicle “smaller than a parking space.”
Assaults by inmates on staff members and other inmates is increasing.
The union noted that regulations allow up to 60 inmates in medium-secure dorms, with 10 of those in double-bunk cubicles designed to hold one person.
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New Study Finds 1 In 3 Americans Run Out Of Money Before Next Payday
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CNBC's "make it" webpage posted a story this week about a new study that found that 32% of Americans run out of money before their next paycheck hits, according to a new survey fielded by Salary Finance. Surprisingly, or maybe not, this is an issue not limited to just low-wage workers.
From the post:
Contrary to popular belief, “this not just an issue for people at the lower end of the income spectrum,” Dan Macklin, Salary Finance’s U.S. CEO and co-founder of SoFi, tells CNBC Make It. About 31% of respondents earning over $100,000 also regularly experience a budget shortfall before payday.
For many, it’s the rising cost of living — including food, housing, education and medical expenses — that creates the squeeze. Over the past year, basic costs increased by 2.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Consumer Price Index. The cost of medical care rose 4.6% in 2019, the largest year-over-year increase since 2007, the BLS reports. Housing also jumped 3.2% last year, while education expenses rose 2.1% and food prices increased about 1.8%.
For others, it’s stagnant wages. Real wages effectively remained stalled last year, showing only a 0.2% year-over-year increase, according to the PayScale Index. But looking longer term, Payscale found median wages, when adjusted for inflation, actually declined 9% since 2006.
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Questions? Comments?
Please fill out our feeback form:
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February 17
President's Day Holiday
Most State Offices & VSEA HQ Closed
February 18
Child & Elder Care Committee
VSEA HQ
155 State Street
Montpelier
9:00 a.m.
February 19
Waterbury Meet-And-Greet
Waterbury State Office Complex
Focus Room, 109A
280 State Drive
Waterbury
12:00 p.m.
February 19
Franklin / Grand Isle Chapter Meeting
Mimmo's Restaurant
22 S. Main Street
St. Albans
4:45 p.m.
February 20
2020 VSEA Legislative Reception
State House
Cedar Creek Room
Montpelier
4:30 p.m.
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Thank you for reading Week In Action!
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VSEA Vision Insurance Program Enrollment Ends In Two Weeks!
Sign Up Today!
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February 28, 2020, is the deadline for VSEA members who haven’t already enrolled in your union’s popular vision-care program.
More information about the vision benefit being offered was emailed earlier this week to members. It has also been posted to VSEA.org under “VSEA Insurance”.
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VSEA Winter Membership Drive Underway!
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A reminder that VSEA's Winter Membership Drive is in progress, but you still have a little more than a month to participate. Never forget that ongoing recruitment is vital to the strength of your union!
In addition to you helping to grow your union, there are rewards, including:
- Members who recruit TWO members will receive a VSEA insulated travel mug;
- Members who recruit FIVE new members will receive a dues holiday for a month; and
- Members who recruit TEN new members will receive a check for $50!
Bonus! Every time you recruit a new member now through February 28, your name is entered into a drawing. Four names will be pulled at random, and each winner will receive a check for $100!
Learn More About VSEA's Winter Membership Drive Here!
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March 31
Is The Deadline To Submit VSEA Bylaw Changes
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The deadline to submit proposals for changes to VSEA’s Master Bylaws is Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Proposals must be mailed to: Tim Belcher, General Counsel, c/o VSEA Headquarters, 155 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05602.
Proposals should reference the number, section, sub-section, etc. of the bylaw you would like to change. You should also include the language you want to add, delete or substitute. Also include the reason(s) you are making this proposal. Example: “Bylaw 0 A (1) (b) Change: Monday to Sunday. Reason: Makes it easier to work with the calendar.”
Please be sure the changes you are recommending include all Articles and/or Bylaws that may be affected by the proposed change.
If you have questions, please contact Tim by email at tbelcher@vsea.org.
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VSEA Website Undergoing Maintenance
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While VSEA's website is being updated, it will still be accessible to members to find contact information, contracts, etc., however, VSEA members will not be able to register for new accounts.
Members and retirees experiencing issues with the VSEA website should contact the VSEA Communications Department.
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Reminder: You Can & Should Report Building-Related Safety & Health
Incidents
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Over the years, VSEA members in various state offices across Vermont have probably lived through, seen or heard about a building-related safety and health incident that sickened state workers or caused a state building to be investigated, or worse, vacated. If you have a safety and health issue where you work, VSEA is reminding about the State's "Building Related Incident Notification" (BRIN) reporting system and is urging members to use it. All BRIN forms submitted go directly to Buildings and General Services (BGS).
To aid you, VSEA has produced a BRIN process explanation flyer to print out for your own reference, share with your colleagues or post on your VSEA-designated bulletin board.
VSEA BRIN Process Explanation Flyer
Important BRIN Links
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VSEA Legislative Team Now Posting
Updates Online
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VSEA's legislative team at the State House has begun to email and post updates from the State House.
Latest: February 6 Legislative Update
Interested VSEA members can find more information about the 2020 legislative session by visiting VSEA's 2020 Session Online Hub. Here you will find a collection of resources, reports and tools to help VSEA members navigate the Vermont Legislative Session, including:
- 2020 Legislative Session Reports;
- 2020 Legislative Session Agenda;
- Find/Contact Your Legislator;
- Virtual Vermont State House Tour;
- Become A VTPAC Member; and
- VSEA Legislative Committee Profile.
The hub will be updated with new information as it becomes available.
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2020 VSEA Scholarship Application Available Now!
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The VSEA Awards/ Scholarship Committee is currently soliciting applications from students seeking financial assistance in the pursuit of post-secondary educational goals.
The Committee will announce the recipients of the scholarships at the June Council Meeting.
View/download the 2020 VSEA Scholarship Application.
Deadline: 4:30 p.m. on May 8, 2020
Note: Depending on your settings, the link above will open a PDF in your web browser or download the PDF to your computer or device. If you have any questions please email vsea@vsea.org.
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VSEA Retirement Security Fact Sheet
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Did you know? Defined benefit plans are safer and more reliable for Vermont's retirees & are cheaper for taxpayers than risky, Wall St 401(k)-style plans. Learn more about the differences between defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution pension plans (a.k.a. 401K) here.
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Here's a reminder of what the Non-Management Unit contract language says in Article 29, section 16, about cold and hot offices:
16. AIR QUALITY AND TEMPERATURE
The State will respond promptly to complaints about air quality in existing State owned and leased buildings including air testing when appropriate. The State will consider reasonable corrective measures when indoor workplace temperatures are less than sixty-five (65) degrees or more than eighty-five (85) degrees. Air quality standards for newly-constructed or newly-leased buildings shall be subject for consideration/recommendation by the Safety and Health Maintenance Committee.
Note: If excused from work because it's too cold or hot, employees will have to use their own leave, unless management approves employees leaving without using their own leave. If your building is closed outright, constituting an "emergency closure," Article 44 of the contract kicks in.
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Bolton Valley Again Offering Discounted Ski & Ride Passes To VSEA Members!
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WIA was asked by Bolton Valley Group Sales Manager, Eric Davis, to include the following in this week's newsletter:
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Buy next year’s season pass now and:
- Get the lowest price of the year AND...
- Ski & Ride the rest of this season FREE!!! That’s right, if you buy next year’s pass now, you can join us for the rest of this season on next season’s pass!
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Please contact me with any questions.
Eric Davis
Group Sales Manager
edavis@boltonvalley.com
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What You Should Know About The Anti-Worker Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
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If you haven’t already, begin educating yourself today about what the Janus decision means—or supplement what you know already. Please also inform your co-workers about this Janus page and talk with them about what you learned and remind them of the importance of a union in their everyday life. You could make a difference. Every study shows that nothing is more effective than member-to-member communication.
Learn More On VSEA.org
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Getting Ready To Retire? Retired Already? Join The VSEA Retired Members’ Chapter!
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Long-time VSEA activist and leader Terry Lefebvre is asking VSEA members getting ready to retire to join the VSEA Retirees’ Chapter to continue to be an active and engaged union member, even in retirement. Lefebvre also appeals to VSEA members to talk up the co-workers they know who might be preparing to retire. If you already belong to the Retired Members’ Chapter, a big thanks to you.
Learn More Here About The VSEA Retired Members’ Chapter
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Need To Update Your Contact Information
With VSEA?
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