VWC on Radio Africa

A couple of weeks ago, VWC leader Jonathan Kissam sat down with the Radio Africa crew to discuss worker rights, protections, and advocacy campaigns. With limited English and lack of legal awareness, Vermont's African-born community members are some of the most vulnerable to workplace mistreatment.

Listen to the interview (mp3 format) at:

http://www.africansinvermont.org/radioafrica/?p=42

The Truth About Forming A Union at Stanley

[published in the St. Albans Messenger, Saturday, Feb 16th in support of workers forming a union at Stanley Inc, a federal contractor at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service center in St. Albans]

By James Haslam

Since 1998, the Vermont Workers' Center has operated a free informational service called the Vermont Workers Rights Hotline. During that time we have learned how hard it is for non-union workers in this state. "At-will" employment means lots of workers lose their jobs every day for no reason. Non-union workers also suffer from unpaid wages, unfair treatment, sudden schedule changes and arbitrary reductions in benefits.

During the past decade, the largest single source of workers rights hotline calls has been Vermont Service Center in St. Albans. When it was Labatt- Anderson we got lots of calls. When it changed over to SCOT, there was even more calls. And now, with Stanley, the calls have increased even further. In the past, workers have called about forced mandatory overtime, unfair firings and discipline, and poor treatment. Hotline callers from the VWC have also talked about the lack of raises, the wage re-classifications, and the loss of personal and sick time. Most recently, VSC workers have called the hotline to ask for the truth about the misinformation Stanley management is distributing in the work place.

We've done some research about the questions we've been asked more frequently. Here is the truth about some of the myths about forming a union at Stanley.

Myth #1: Only the Department of Labor (DOL) can do anything about wage increases.

Truth: There currently is a DOL investigation into possible job misclassifications under the previous contractors commonly referred to as SCOT. If the DOL rules that workers were misclassified, then some employees may get some back pay from the former contractors. Stanley is not a subject of this investigation. Stanley will not have to pay because of this investigation.

VSC workers can only get pay back from Stanley if a new investigation is initiated but this could take months or years to happen. The only other way VSC workers can get a higher rate pay through the DOL is if the DOL raised the job classification rates. The last time this happened was 4 years ago.

By forming a union and having the ability to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement workers will not only be able to change these wrongful misclassifications of job titles but will also finally have the ability to negotiate raises. Most importantly, if there was a union when Stanley took over they would not have been able to unilaterally cut peoples wages and change their job titles.

Finally, under the Service Contract Act, employers can submit additional wage costs which occur because of contract negotiations to the federal government for reimbursement. So Stanley workers could get a raise and the federal government could pay for it.

Myth #2: When people have unions you have to pay union dues and the dues will negate any wage increase.

Truth: Yes, part of having a union is paying union dues, but no one pays any dues until there is a collective bargaining agreement (contract) has been reached and ratified by all the workers. Workers are not stupid, they would not negotiate a contract with tiny raises that would be smaller than union dues. Studies have shown that when workers have the ability to collectively bargain wages and benefits, they do much better than when it is solely management that determines what the wages and benefits will be. In the US, union members make about 30% more than their non-union counterparts. Today, union workers on average make $5 more an hour than non-union workers. Union dues are a small price to pay for livable wages, job security and decent benefits.

Myth #3:If Stanley workers vote to form a union then they will no longer have access to Stanley's 4O1K - retirement plan.

Truth:It would be illegal for Stanley to take away any of Stanley's employees' retirement benefits because they form a union. Federal labor law prohibits companies from taking away any existing benefits because workers unionize. In fact, the only way to insure that nothing is arbitrarily taken away is to form a union and put everything into a legally binding contract.

From a workers' rights perspective the choice of having a union at Stanley is clear. It is really important for workers to have a union contract to make sure that no matter what contractor is acting as the employer, there is a fair agreement that ensures decent wages and provides workers with protection. It is not only important for the people who work at the VSC but for everyone in the community. When Stanley executives cut wages, they are essentially taking thousands of dollars out of community and putting it into their Virginia bank accounts. They are trying to make a profit at their employees' expense. If Stanley workers want fairness and respect, then the way to get it is by forming a union.

James Haslam is the Director of the Vermont Workers' Center, a membership organization of Vermonters based in Burlington and is committed to fighting for workers' rights and economic justice. There website is www.workerscenter.org and the Vermont Workers' Rights Hotline is toll-free 866-229-0009.

Vermont workers recount injustices to rights panel

Shay Totten
Vermont Guardian
December 21, 2005

BURLINGTON — A panel of legislative and ecumenical leaders heard testimony from dozens of Vermonters about the challenges they face with low pay, a lack of job security, no health care for their families, and how many employers work against their efforts to form unions.

For many of the 12-member Worker's Rights Board, chaired by U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, the stories are nothing new. Worker after worker testified Dec. 10 under three broad themes: livable wages and good jobs; the right to organize and labor rights; and the right to health care.

The board was comprised of several Democratic lawmakers, one Progressive legislator, a student leader from the University of Vermont, a retiree, and several Burlington area religious leaders.

The panel, whose members were appointed by a coalition of labor organizations, has no strict mandate. In the coming weeks, however, the board will discuss specific actions it could take, or encourage others to take, as a result of the testimony it heard at the hearing, said James Haslam, director of the Vermont Worker's Center, an event sponsor.

The event, on the Trinity Campus of the University of Vermont, was held on International Human Rights Day to link the economic struggle of workers to the broader discussion of human rights, said Brady Fletcher of the Student Labor Action Project at UVM, one of the event sponsors.

"Human rights refers to many things and we don't associate, as we should, the issue of human rights with economic rights," said Sanders in an opening speech to the crowd. "To my mind, if someone cannot find a job that pays them a wage so that they and their family can live in dignity, that is a violation of human rights; if there are people across the street from here who work 40 hours a week but cannot find a doctor or dentist because they cannot buy health insurance, that's a violation of human rights. If people are living in poverty in the richest country in the world, that is a violation of human rights."

Given the location of the event, UVM's administration took the brunt of criticism from participants, many of whom are support and clerical staff members who are attempting to form a union.

"For years, UVM said that while their salaries weren't great, their benefits were," said Jennifer Larsen, a lab technician who has worked at UVM for 16 years. "Then they turned around and said that the benefits we get would bankrupt the university in 10 years, and they then gave us a large cut in our health insurance, and [no] salary increases.

"In the past five years, I have seen a 495 percent increase in premiums and that has not been matched by a salary increase — and in this academic-gone-corporate environment we have no power to speak out," Larsen added.

Two weeks ago, hundreds of students, UVM alumni, faculty, and staff, along with construction workers and community members rallied outside a UVM board of trustees meeting to call for fair labor standards on campus.

Lester Gockley, a UVM maintenance worker and member of the United Electrical Workers Local 267, said a lot of skilled jobs are going by the wayside at the university. "There is a blatant attempt to subcontract a lot of work," he said. And without a union in place to fight against this move, more jobs may have been lost by now.

"Since the arrival of UE at UVM, our organization has led an attempt to promote a livable wage, and UVM has fought this every step of the way," he said.

A UVM spokesman said the school does not openly work against union activity, as evident by the fact that four employee groups are unionized, and strives to ensure that all employees are cared for.

"Our approach with union organizing is that we simply want to make sure that our employees are in the best position to make a well-informed decision as to whether union representation is in their best interest," said Enrique Corredera, a UVM spokesman. "We also recognize the importance of well-compensated and well-cared for employees, whether they are faculty or staff as they are critical to the success of the institution and our ability to fulfill our vision."

Other than UVM employees, former employees at Wal-Mart and IBM, as well as staff members from the Community College of Vermont and Verizon, testified about the challenges they faced trying to form or maintain unions.

Haslam called the event an important step in bringing the real-life struggles of working families to the attention of people who have the power to make change.

"What we saw today was regular people coming together who have the audacity to say that we should have livable wages and good jobs, the freedom to organize, and that health care should be a basic right available to everybody," said Haslam. "And even though we are told that these things are not politically possible ... together we can change what is politically possible. This event was a step in that direction."

Unions work for everyone

Op-Ed in Burlington Free Press, August 26, 2003

By James Haslam

The main reason people need unions is to have a voice about their working conditions. As the saying suggests, "united we bargain, divided we beg."

Organizing a union is the only way for workers to wrench fairness from the corporate system. As Labor Day approaches, more and more workers are realizing the value of union membership. In Vermont, from the nurses at Fletcher Allen, to UVM's faculty, to the co-op workers at City Market and Hunger Mountain, thousands of workers are organizing unions.

The Fletcher Allen RNs recently demonstrated how forming a union works, and how union members can make real changes at work. After several unsuccessful attempts where management spent millions on anti-union campaigns, last Oct. 4, the RNs voted two to one to unionize.

Since poor working conditions and short staffing in health care can lead to people dying, AFT Local 5221 could then discuss and take initiative on things they wanted changed. So they negotiated a contract that, among other things, insisted upon safe "nurse-to-patient staffing ratios" - contract language that can save patients' lives. They also helped lead a statewide Patient Safety Act, which calls for the same for all our state's hospitals. The lesson is that, being organized, they were able to accomplish things that they would not be able to do as individuals.

This is also an example of unions creating a more just society. When only the employer class organizes, into chambers of commerce, business and industry associations, and PACs, corporate interests control public policy. But when workers organize, they can change public policy so it serves working class families, not just the rich.

When you see the bumper sticker, "The Labor Movement: The Folks That Brought You the Weekend," remember that it was union activists who fought to win Social Security, paid sick leave, vacations, and holidays, work place health and safety laws, public education, the eight-hour day, the 40-hour week, protection from discrimination and more. It has always been a fight to push forward social reforms, but only in struggle is victory possible.

Layoffs result when corporate executives put profit above public good. Workers at IBM are now organizing a union, Alliance@IBM with the Communication Workers of America (CWA). They have given their lives to IBM yet now they're being dumped, and rich executives are dictating their lay-off conditions. Verizon too wants to move jobs, eliminate and contract out work. But in contrast to IBM, Verizon employees (CWA members and those in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) are currently negotiating to keep their jobs. The fact that these workers have a union contract and can actively protect their livelihood, instead of being at the mercy of management's whims, is important for Vermont.

Since workers are consumers, their jobs are vital to all local commerce. With free trade policies and corporate globalization leading to the loss of good jobs, the 500-plus Verizon jobs represent some of the last good jobs in Vermont. Workers' collective interests often extend to greater community interests.

Labor Day is the time to honor the contribution workers have made in society. It's a time to celebrate our struggles and victories to improve our lives and our communities.

On Saturday Aug. 30, unionized nurses, Verizon workers, and hundreds of other workers with their families will gather for the 3rd Annual Labor Parade and Picnic in Burlington. The parade starts at 11 a.m. at H.O. Wheeler School and ends at Roosevelt Park, where there will be music, speakers, and free food (prepared with volunteer union labor). It's time to celebrate Vermont's exciting labor movement, and help put the "move" in the movement.

James Haslam is director of the Vermont Workers' Center, a nonprofit workers' rights organization based in Montpelier.

Labor Struggles Are Community Struggles

Op-Ed In the Rutland Herald and Times Argus newspapers, December 2002

By James Haslam

When workers organize to collectively bargain fair wages, benefits, and safe working conditions they are exercising a basic and important human right. They are struggling for dignity and justice at work, but also in the local community.

“Working conditions are living conditions. Healthy and safe workplaces that compensate fairly, raise the standard of living in our communities,” says Dan Brush, President of GCIU 745c, the union at Capital City Press in Barre. “The effects of poverty, such as crime, domestic violence, and untreated illness, are devastating to a healthy community. I strongly believe that unions make communities better places to live.”

The connections between people organizing unions and the benefits to greater society are endless. Unions struggled for many benefits we now take for granted, such as the eight-hour-day, the minimum wage, social security, the end of child labor and the public school system. In Vermont, we have some more recent examples.

In August of 2000, over a hundred nursing home workers organized a union at Berlin Health & Rehabilitation Center (BH&RC) for livable wages and working conditions, but also for the ability to provide proper care. In doing so they created a public debate about proper staffing, and shed light on industry-wide problems. So the state agencies investigated, and because of those members, regulatory steps have begun to assure proper staffing in Vermont’s nursing homes. Quality care also united over a thousand Registered Nurses at Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) to form a union in October. We’re all better off now that nurses have a voice with management.

But organizing isn’t easy. The laws, which supposedly protect our right to organize, are weak and poorly enforced. Employers harass, misinform and intimidate to create confusion to scare their employees from organizing. It’s a $300-million a year industry consulting corporations to use these coercive tactics. Some of the biggest national union-busting firms have been involved in local organizing campaigns. BH&RC hired Jackson & Lewis out of Connecticut (who are holding a seminar on “How to Stay Union-free” for healthcare employers throughout Vermont and New Hampshire on December 12th in White River Junction at Hotel Coolidge where dozens of community members plan to protest this activity in our community). FAHC hired Adams, Haskell, Nash & Sheridan from Kentucky. Both corporations waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on these union-busters whose sole job to thwart workers from organizing. To succeed despite these obstacles, workers need support from the community.

“The community support we got made a tremendous difference,” says Jennifer Henry, RN at Fletcher Allen. “Knowing so many people were behind us went a long way saying what we were doing was right and we could win.” [On October 3 & 4, the RN’s voted almost 2-to-1 to form a union despite the expensive campaign waged against them.]

Unionized workers bargain for the whole job market. For instance, the wage increases and benefits the Burlington nurses negotiate will positively affect other healthcare workers throughout Vermont. With their ability to negotiate, manufacturing unions raise the bar for the rest in the industry. And don’t believe the myth that by forming a union and bargaining forces corporations to relocate out of Vermont. That’s just a fear tactic from employers who want to retain the power to dictate everything. Statistically, non-union plants move more often than union plants.

“We are the absolute last people who want to see our plant move,” says Bob South, President of UE Local 234, the union at Fairbanks Scales in St. Johnsbury. “If the company is hurting financially, we invite them to open the books so we can be part of the discussion of how to keep things running, and still get treated fairly. We pray that they stay, but if they leave, we’re better off having a union to negotiate the terms of a severance package.”

In our system, unions are the best way to fight for economic justice and safe working conditions. And as wealth disparity continues to grow, it becomes harder to find good jobs in Vermont and more difficult to support families. We have to fight back as a community.

Recently the religious community has gotten involved in labor struggles, many issuing teachings on the topic like the following from the Roman Catholic Church:

“The Church fully supports the rights of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions. This is a specific application of the more general right to associate…No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself. Therefore, we firmly oppose organized efforts, such as those regrettably seen in this country, to break existing unions or prevent workers from organizing.”

The community makes a difference. Just because laws that protect workers are inadequate, it doesn’t mean we have to tolerate intimidating corporate behavior. If neighbors, friends and congregations stand together with workers we can make union-busting campaigns unacceptable. We can hold corporations accountable to the values we hold dear - democracy, freedom and equality. Labor struggles are community struggles and we all need to get involved.

James Haslam is the director of the Vermont Workers’ Center, a community organization committed to fighting for workers’ rights. With questions or comments contact 802-229-0009 or info [at] workerscenter [dot] org

Vermont's Workers Need to Protect Their Rights

August 2002

By Dawn Stanger, Vermont Workers Center Steering Committee Member

It's only natural for employers to seek concessions from workers. Improvements in working conditions, wages, benefits and Vermont's environment -- all undermine profits.

The only way this system becomes accountable is when workers struggle to get their fair share. We cannot sit back and accept what we're "given." Our profit-seeking system, by its very nature, demands that employers manipulate accounting and throw money into politics, corrupting our "democracy" and getting special favors.

If workers don't struggle against it, the system spits them out, as Enroners and IBMers now see. In a capitalist economy, the people who run it are first and foremost trying to get rich and things like the rights of workers just get in the way.

Historically, there has been only one way for workers to increase their rights and gain power -- uniting and acting together. As workers, when we have the ability to make collective, democratic decisions and act in all of our interests, we can make improvements for all of us.

Bosses call unions "third parties," insinuating outside forces, but unions are really a second party. When we're organized, we have the right to sit down and bargain our conditions, not have them imposed on us. Unions are democratic, and union members have a voice in how they run their organization and they often argue about what is the best thing for them to do. And this is the sort of thing everybody deserves, to have democratic rights in all aspects of our lives.

CEO pay is now a ridiculous 600 times the average worker's pay in the United States. Income and wealth disparity between the rich and the rest of us is the worst it's ever been. Our health-care, with 44 million Americans uncovered and sky-rocketing rates, has hit rock-bottom. If workers' concerns were addressed in politics, we'd already have universal health care like all the other civilized nations do. When corporate excess reaches the present level, and people mistakenly believe that the stock market reflects workers' goals, we've got big trouble.

We're the Vermonters getting laid off and struggling to get by. Rich people might go on fewer vacations, but workers have to make tough choices between things such as clothes for our kids, medication, food and heat. But the fact is we do have to worry about those things, while the rich are still getting richer.

For years there has been an attack on our living standards -- the top 5 percent are ripping us off. They're avoiding taxes, moving companies to other countries, and cheating us out of our old-age money. We need to get over those stupid barriers between workers, white-collar, blue-collar stuff, union, non-union, and get our act together. Employers play hardball and our team has gotten soft.

I write as a member of the Vermont Workers' Center. I load trucks for a living. I've become militant with good reason. I've spoken to hundreds of Vermonters on our Workers' Rights Hotline. There is little fairness in a system manipulated by transnational corporations.

The Workers Center and Vermont's labor unions will not tolerate this disparity in our communities and we are groups of workers fighting back

We invite all workers in Vermont to come celebrate the fact that we all trudge off to work each day, dependably, all year long, to earn a living, making the economic wheels of our state turn. Gathering at 11 a.m. Saturday we're parading from H.O. Wheeler in Burlington's North End to Battery Park, then throwing a free picnic for all who join us.

Vermont's workers need to take back our state from the bosses. Let's start by taking back Labor Day Weekend for workers.

Dawn Stanger is a Teamster who lives in Underhill and is a steering committee member of the Vermont Workers' Center. For more information about the Labor March and Picnic, call 863-2345, Ext. 8. For the Vermont Workers' Rights Hotline, call toll-free (866) 229-0009.