Burlington - Five hundred people participated in the day-long Ella Baker Human Rights Conference held on Dec 13, 2009. The conference was organized by the Vermont Workers' Center and sponsored by forty-three other organizations.
Excerpts of Closing Remarks - James Haslam, Vermont Workers' Center
First off, I just have to say thank you to all the people who worked with us to make this event happen. We are very excited about the incredible broad-range of groups who came together for this event, many of these groups and individuals we have worked with for years, and many new groups and new faces, who we are just now getting to know and build relationships with.
..when I first started getting outraged by the injustice and suffering that pervades our society, I got really mad and fired up about it, but it took some time before I made the next big step, and I understood that it was not enough to recognize injustice, get mad and complain about it, that it was necessary to make change, become an agent of change. The myth is that the problems are so big that we can't do anything about them. What I have experienced is totally the opposite, that when people get together, there's an enormous impact we can make. We have seen people who have organized for workplace rights and won, very soon start wanting to organize for bigger things, for healthcare as a human right, to end domestic abuse, to end racism. As we learn that together we can take collective action to fight injustice and win improvements in our lives, tremendous amounts of possibilities unfold. At the Workers' Center we have been doing a tremendous amount of organizing with very few resources, and I believe we are only now scratching the surface for what is possible.
The other thing that I have come to learn is that it does start here with our own struggle for justice, our own family, our own neighborhood, our own community, but that we are all connected. Vermont is small, and this planet is actually not that big, the chain of activity that sustains and reproduces is a chain of interdependence. We have realized that we cannot only struggle for livable wages and organizing for rights on the job. The same interests that exploit workers, exploit the planet, make healthcare and anything they possibly can into a commodity to profit from.
So we started asking who benefits from the fact that healthcare is not a human right? Who benefits when workers are divided by race and immigration status? Who benefits from racism and other forms of oppression? It was only a few years ago that after Vermont passed civil unions, and afterwards the right-wing was able to use homophobia to get thousands of working class Vermonters to vote against their own economic interests. Increasingly, those same people will be pitting white Vermonters against undocumented Latino and Latina workers for jobs. We can't let them divide us. Right now public services and public sector jobs are in jeopardy because of budget shortfalls, and people like Governor Douglas will blame unions and public sector workers have it too good and are the problem. Meanwhile we continue to spend $700 million dollars a day on a totally bullshit war in Iraq. That is why we are committed to building a movement for fundamental change, one that is based on human rights, on human needs and ultimately that is based on solidarity.
At the Workers' Center we use that word a lot, solidarity. We have felt that solidarity is at the core of the labor movement, and I think ultimately to build a broad-based movement, solidarity is what it is all about. Solidarity and unity. We have inherited a world which is based on greed and the endless search for profit, and which is based on competition, selfishness and individualism. And right now, we are witnessing that this path is literally threatening the capacity to continue human life on the planet and we are possibly studying our own extinction. The parents we work with at Barnes Elementary School in the Burlington Livable City Coalition recently put up a quote on a mural outside the school that says "Sustainability is another word for Justice". I am motivated in working with you all to build this movement for fundamental change in our community because I believe that is critical for our kids' future. I was also thinking about that word community, we use that a lot too. I thought of what Gandhi once said when he was asked one time about what he thought about Western Civilization, and he said he thought it was a good idea. I think much of that is true about the word "community". Because how can we have a community when people are subjected to live in poverty? How can it be a community when people are divided by racism and homophobia? How can we call it a community when people do not feel safe, when people regularly suffer from domestic abuse and sexual violence? How can we have a community where kids from low-income families are growing up in rental housing that infested with toxic lead paint that creates permanent brain damage? How can we call it a community when healthcare is not a basic right to everyone, but a privilege to some?
That is why it is so important that we have come together for this conference, that we have learned about the broad range of struggles that we face and the justice we need to fight for in order to make our communities live up to that name.
I want to take a few minutes to let everyone know about some Workers' Center campaigns that I hope you can join us in. We've spent a lot of time thinking about how to do our work in a strategic way that facilitates convergence between our struggles and other struggles.
Of course, we must build a movement to guarantee the right of workers to organize, calling for passing the Employee Free Choice Act, and [supporting] the Fletcher Allen Techs [as they organize a union], their struggle like the nurses before them is one which is not only a workers' rights struggle, but their victory will mean safer patient care and a better hospital for the community..
One thing that we ask all of you to do, is join us in the Healthcare Is A Human Right Campaign. This campaign is not just about winning a single-payer universal healthcare system, though we believe that that is necessary. This campaign is about a vision of healthcare based not on profits, but on solidarity and community. A vision that encompasses not only the right to see a doctor when you need to, but the right to a comprehensive public health system that ensures that our homes are free of toxins, that we have access to mental health and recovery services when we need them, that victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence are given the support and safety that they need. This campaign is also about building enough power to make the changes that are necessary to realize that vision. The only way to build that power, and to change what is politically possible, is to have an enormous amount of people involved. We are planning on building a statewide network capable of winning and making HC a HR. In building this network, we have called for a major statewide rally on May 1st at 12 noon on the State House steps in Montpelier. We are asking each on of you to sign up today to come to that rally and help bring people with you. We will organize vans, busses, car pools, everything we can to bring as many people there as possible. Together we will have so many people at the State House people will no longer say that change is not politically possible, and we will have built a network of us connected throughout the state that will keep organizing until we have that system in place and we will keep organizing to make sure it works and stays working. We need to build a mass movement for healthcare as a human right, and all human rights for all people.
One of our major projects is to do that in here in Burlington is the Burlington Livable City Coalition, which works to make this community truly livable for all of its residents. For us it started with struggling for livable wages and workers' rights, with the concept that it made sense for for family supporting jobs and quality public services. We are working with the unions to act in solidarity, to support each others' struggles, to have nurses, teachers,UVM Service & Maintenance workers and UVM faculty, Howard Center, City Market workers all who are in difficult contract negotiations this year, to stand together. We are also working with a group of parents, tenants and educators to win real change on how the City addresses the lead paint that is still poisoning children, especially children of working-class parents in the Old North End. Ultimately, this campaign is about building power for the people who don't traditionally hold power in this city -- workers, tenants, people marginalized by race and class -- to win justice in every aspect of our lives; in the motto of the environmental justice movement, "justice where we live, justice where we play, justice where we work."
In our campaigns we talk a lot about building power. The process of how we build that power becomes an end in itself. This is the organizing tradition of Ella Baker, of leadership development, consciousness-raising, and intersectionality of issues and oppressions. The slow, patient, undramatic work of relationship building. Dealing with all the misdirected anger that exists between different parts of the community. This is why we have put a major effort over the past several years into popular education. In January and February we will be holding our third annual Solidarity School, a three-day intensive workshop for emerging labor and community leaders, which covers organizing, tactics and strategy, people's history and movement-building. This past year the Workers' Center also did a series of one-day workshops on Anti-racism & Building A Social Justice Movement. We had one hundred and seventy people participate and it was so successful that we are going to do it again in 2009, most likely in the fall.
A lot of temporary coalitions are put together for limited goals, such as a good contract or a change in public policy. We believe that we all need to be thinking about our coalition and alliance-building terms of how do we use this struggle as part of an overall strategy to build power? How do we begin to re-conceptualize our own work in a way that incorporates the goals of others, making us all stronger? How do we build a movement where we don't just support each other, but we work together strategically towards a shared vision of justice and human rights, one that is based on solidarity and community? We hope this conference has been a useful contribution to that process. So again, please sign the EFCA cards, make plans to join us on May 1st, and, most importantly, we hope everyone continues the dialogues between organizations and movements that we've had today.
Human Rights Conference Draws 500 Participants
Northrup Grummon workers win contract in St. Albans!
Statement from the Northrup Grummon workers UE Local 208:
"On Friday Sept. 12th, UE Local 208 ratified its first Union contract. The contract contains a 9% wage increase over three years, an increase in benefits and other protections. The vote to accept the agreement marked the end of the struggle for a first contract over the past few months. UE Local 208 members at USCIS would like to thank the Vermont Workers' Center for all your support. You have been there for us every step of the way from forming our Union to winning our first contract. We know you will continue to support our struggle for justice at USCIS. We look forward to working with and giving our support to the Vermont Workers' Center in the future."
This is a great victory, here's how one of our members, Damon Hall with the Ironworkers Local 7, put it in a letter published by the St. Albans Messenger this week:
Good that you stood up for your rights
9/22/2008
I would like to congratulate all the workers employed by Northrop-Grumman who did not give up the battle for their rights as workers! It can be a long hard road when you are trying to organize and negotiate a contract, especially when faced with a brutal anti-union campaign that scares workers with lies. You all have stood up and shown others here in VT that it can be achieved if you stick together and work as one. With wages going down and fuel skyrocketing the job world out there can be pretty gruesome. Workers that organize can negotiate their wages & benefits instead of being forced to accept what is fed to them. My hat goes off to all of you and I hope others out there realize that you have to work hard and fight for the things you believe in because it is not going to be handed to you. The benefits in end far out way the battles along the way. E PLURIBUS UNUM (out of many, one.)
Damon Hall
Swanton
ST. ALBANS RALLY MONDAY
Support UE Local 208 on Monday, September 8th at 2:15 in a rally for a fair Union contract.
Northrup Grumman workers contribute "ethics" posters to company contest
Northrop Grumman, one of the companies that employs service center workers fighting for a first contract in St. Albans, held an "ethics" themed poster contest. UE Local 208 Northrop Grumman employees created their own submissions to the contest. See more of their posters at justiceatuscis.org . Also, on August 18th Workers' Center members helped lead a community/worker delegation which included State Senator Ginny Lyons and State Rep. Chris Pearson to the regional office of Homeland Security in South Burlington. We went to ask them to tell their DC adminstration the community was concerned and that the workers deserve livable wages. Here is a link to photo and recap»
July 14: Rally to Support Service Center Workers in St. Albans
UPDATE: Over 60 service center workers and supporters from the VWC rallied in St. Albans on July 14, while USCIS workers in California took action as well. More »
UE Local 208 USCIS Vermont Service Center workers need your support at their march and rally on July 14th. They are fighting for a fair first contract by August first and need as much community support as possible to demand that the companies respect this deadline and bargain now. These workers — the vast majority of them women — have waited long enough for decent wage increases and better benefits.
Monday July 14th 2008
2:00pm
Beginning at Tabor Building 75 Lower Weldon St, St. Albans then marching to Taylor Park in the center of town at 2:30pm.
More information about the workers' struggle is available at justiceatuscis.org.
Download a flier for the march and rally here (in PDF format).
Directions to the Tabor building in St. Albans where the rally will begin:
Directions (from I-89): Go straight off exit ramp through the light until you reach S. Main St. Make a right on S. Main St. Make a left onto Lower Weldon St. The address is 75 Lower Weldon St [ Google Map ].
Freightliner 5 Solidarity Meeting
6pm, Sunday, March 30th
Vermont Workers' Center
294 North Winooski Ave, Burlington
Two fired United Auto Workers (UAW) members from Freightliner trucks in Cleveland, N.C. will be in Burlington on March 30. Allen Bradley and Robert Whiteside will speak about their campaign to regain their jobs and protect their union at the Vermont Workers Center this Sunday. Allen and Robert are part of the "Freightliner 5", five members of UAW Local 3520 who were terminated April 3, 2007 by truck maker Freightliner after they led a legal strike of 1500 workers the day before. They are traveling around the country to build support for their campaign to regain their jobs, and to protect and extend union victories in the South.
Their solidarity campaign meetings elsewhere have been tremendously inspiring for local activists. Both Allen and Robert were leading members of the Organizing Committee that successfully won their union at Freightliner in 2003 in one of the most anti-union state's in the country, "right-to-work" North Carolina. Their fight to win justice also will have long-term consequences for organizing the South, which continues to be the achilles' heel of the U.S. Labor movement. The rank-and-file activism and solidarity campaign they are engaged in go to the core of the challenges and best traditions of the U.S. labor movement, lessons that we can all learn from.
More info: http://www.justice4five.com/
Sponsored by the Freightliner 5 Solidarity Committee. Endorsers include: Vermont Workers' Center, UVM United Academics, Champlain Valley & Washington/Orange Counties Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, International Socialist Organization.
Contact: info [at] workerscenter.org
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.
Livable Wages Now! Burlington Livable City Coalition Goes to School Board Meeting Feb 12th
After a very successful City wide Livable Wage Button Day in January the Burlington School District continues to drag their feet in negotiations with Burlington Food Service Workers and Maintenance Workers. Despite the livable wage victory for the Burlington Para-Educators and the BEA in November 2007, Food Service and some Custodial & Maintenance workers, members of AFSCME Local 1343, have been in negotiations for over a year.
At the School Board Meeting on Tuesday Feb 12th, members of the Burlington Livable City Coalition delivered this clear message to the Burlington School Board and Administration that Burlington School Support Staff deserve a Livable Wage.
See the video message "Livable Wages Now!" that we played at the Board Meeting.
See video clips of past School Board meeting delegations
To learn more read the "Report on Livable Wages in Burlington Schools" put out in June 2007. Among other things the report highlights the fact that no Food Service Workers in Burlington receive a livable wage.
Two Union Victories at Stanley Contractors in St. Albans!
February 1, 2008: For the second day in a row, employees of a contractor of Stanley Associates at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Center have voted to join UE. Despite bad weather, workers employed by Northrup Grumman Technical Services Inc. traveled to NLRB polling places in St. Albans and Essex and voted 57-40 to become members of UE.
This victory came just a day after workers employed by Choctaw Archiving chose UE by 51 to 31. These are two of eight elections that will take place in the coming weeks among nearly a thousand workers in Vermont and California whose wages and working conditions came under attack when a new federal contractor, Stanley, and its subcontractors took over their workplaces.
Scheduled next is a February 27 vote by Choctaw workers in California. The union is awaiting voting dates for four additional units.
"This is not about the company," said Lisa Stenta, a Grumman employee who has worked at the service center for nine years, surviving three different contractors. "It's not about who the contractor is. It's about us taking charge of our future." She spoke of women forced to work 16-hour shifts with mandatory overtime. "We deserve better than
that. We're dedicated workers." She said past union organizing drives had failed, and nothing changed after the election, so this time workers weren't taking chances. "I feel great" about the outcome, she said.
Kelly Levick is employed by Choctaw Archiving, the group who voted to join UE one day earlier. "I'm very excited aboout our victory and the Northrop victory," she said. Kelly, with eight years on the job, attributes the workers' win to "a lot of hard work. We all pulled together and pulled it off."
Jeremy Murray works directly for Stankey, the lead contractor at the Vermont service center. His bargaining unit of approximately 150 people is still waiting for the NLRB to set their voting date. But the divisions the bosses have set up between employees under the different contractors don't really mean anything to the workers. "It's all about the group -- we all help each other," Jeremy said, and UE supporters are working together to bring everyone into the union. "We don't want to leave anyone behind. This will give us so much strength."
The campaign has been followed closely by the local and this week the local newspaper, the St. Albans Messenger, endorsed the union campaign in an editorial. Earlier, the Vermont Workers' Center has helped coordinate community support, including coordinating a letter signed by over two dozen community leaders, including U.S. Sen.Bernie Sanders, I-VT. [Click here for yesterday's Messenger story, refers to VWC & Hotline]
Five subsequent elections will decide how many additional workers in Vermont and California will be included when UE begins bargaining for improvements in wages and conditions. All the workers performed services for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), which contracts with each employer for data entry and clerical work. Stanley and Associates acts as the lead contractor for the group.
A $2 an hour wage cut imposed by Stanley when it took over operations in early December sparked the organizing drive, bringing workers together to defend their wages as well as sudden cuts in their sick and personal days and vacation time. A top Stanley executive's comment about the cuts was reportedly, "Get Over It!" — a comment which inspired one campaign slogan, "We're UE. GET OVER IT!"
In all, more than 1,000 workers, mostly women, are employed at the two service centers in St. Albans, VT, and Laguna Niguel, CA. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming elections in Vermont and ways to help out.
Workers Across Burlington Show Their Support for Food Service Workers
Burlington, VT – Members of the Burlington Livable City Coalition, representing hundreds of workers and community members across the city, stood in solidarity with Burlington School Support Staff, including food service workers, by wearing livable wage pins at locations across the city on January 28th and 29th. Members of AFSCME Local 1343, representing Burlington School Food Service workers and Service and Maintenance workers, have been in negotiations since January 2007 and working without a contract since June 30th, 2007. Despite the huge livable wage victory for Burlington School Para-Educators, represented by the Burlington Education Association, in November the food service workers in the Burlington Schools continue to work for less then a livable wage.
According to the Report on Livable Wages in Burlington Schools put out in June 2007 by the Peace and Justice Center’s Vermont Livable Wage Campaign and the Vermont Workers Center, no food service workers make the hourly livable wage, 43% earned $8.59/hr or less in 2005-2006 school year, and 94% of food service workers are women. 
Dozens of nurses at Fletcher Allen Health Care, workers at City Market and the University of Vermont, as well had teachers, para-educators, food service workers and service and maintenance workers in the Burlington Schools wore Livable Wage buttons for the past two days. 
LIVABLE WAGE Burlington Citywide Button Day - Monday, Jan. 28th
The Burlington Livable City Coalition invites you to where livable wage buttons at work and in the community on Jan 28th (and Jan 29th, too if you like) to support the food serive and other Burlington school support staff workers who still don't earn a livable wage as they are in contract negotiations. Buttons can be picked up at the VT Workers' Center, 294 North Winooski Avenue or the Peace & Justice Center, 21 Church Street, Burlington.
More info call James at VWC at 861-2877 or Colin at PJC 863-2345 x8
JOIN US SATURDAY: Building A Movement For Worker Justice
Saturday, January 26
BUILDING A MOVEMENT FOR WORKER JUSTICE CONFERENCE
9am, UVM Davis Center (There is no-charge, use this link and click on Register at the bottom of the page to REGISTER RIGHT NOW)
Check it out Jan 23rd story in Seven Days
A major gathering for workers, students, educators and health care providers to build a movement for workers' rights, livable wages, economic justice, quality healthcare for all and global solidarity. (See sponsors below)
Agenda
8:45-9:10 REGISTRATION
9:15-9:50 WELCOMING SESSION
Organizing for Our Future
Special Guest: Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America
10-10:50 WORKSHOP SESSION 1
* Developing An Economy That Works For All (Traven Leyshon, President Washington-Orange-Lamoille County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO and Director of Highroad Vermont)
* Defending Social Services & Fighting Privatization (Ed Stanak, former president of the VT State Employees Association)
* Using The Media Effectively In Your Campaigns (Darren Allen, Vermont NEA & Doug Gibson, VSEA)
* Lessons from the Verizon Stop The Sale Campaign & The Next Steps in Universal Broadband Access in New England (Larry Cohen, CWA and Mike Spillane IBEW Local 2326, goes for both sessions)
* Building a Campaign for Livable wages (Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, former director of the VT Livable Wage Campaign and organizer with Vermont NEA)
* Getting Started: Basics in beginning to organize for change in our communities (James Haslam, Director of Vermont Workers' Center and Phil Fiermonte, longtime community & labor organizer)
* Global Trade, Outsourcing & Workers Organizing Across Borders (Dan Brush, organizer with Teamsters Local 1L, Earl Mongeon and Lee Conrad from Alliance @ IBM)
* How to survive and thrive in a career in healthcare (Jen Henry, RN, president of the Fletcher Allen nurses union)
11-11:50 WORKSHOP SESSION 2
* Strategies in Starting to Organize At Your Workplace (James Haslam, Vermont Workers' Center)
* Labor Mobilizing For Elections (Jan Schaffer, AFL-CIO)
* The Labor Movement and the fight for quality universal healthcare (Traven Leyshon, Washington-Orange-Lamoille CLC, Highroad Vermont)
* People vs. Money: Grassroots Lobbying To Win Legislation (Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, former director, VLWC and organizer, Vermont NEA)
* Creating A Beautiful Revolution: Using Art In Our Campaigns (Jessica Morley, President UE Local 203, & members of the Vermont Workers' Center Art Committee)
* No Child Left Behind, Act 82 & the Future of Public Education Funding in Vermont (Angelo Dorta and Darren Allen of Vermont NEA)
Starting From Scratch: How to start organizing at your school (Kate Kandelstein, UVM SLAP and other SLAP and CLEA leaders)
12-12:45 BROWN BAG WORKING LUNCH
A People's History of Healthcare in the United States: Presentation by Jonathan Kissam, Vermont Workers' Center Education Committee
— OR —
STUDENTS AND WORKERS UNITED: Building a statewide network of workers' rights struggles at schools. Speakers from UVM SLAP, Green Mountain College SLAP, CLEA, Vermont Workers' Center, United Staff, United Academics and UE Local 267 (UVM service and maintenance workers)
12:45-2:00 PLENARY: Building a Movement for Healthcare for All, Livable Wages and Workers' Rights
Facilitated by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
Panel includes:
JEN HENRY, President, UPV/AFT
ANGELO DORTA, President, Vermont NEA
ANGELA DIGIULIO, Student Labor Action Project
LARRY COHEN, President, Communications Workers of America (CWA)
2pm GROUP PHOTO and MARCH
Participants are invited to join the Many Struggles, One Movement march, part of a Global Day of Action: Act Together for Another World. Themes are: TROOPS HOME NOW, HEALTHCARE IS A RIGHT, CLIMATE JUSTICE march leaves from UVM Davis Center to Church Street. Bring your banners, signs, and join hundreds of people and giant puppets
(There is no-charge, use this link and click on Register at the bottom of the page to REGISTER RIGHT NOW)
SOCIAL FORUM SOCIAL – VWC Fundraiser
6:30pm, Vermont Workers' Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington
Discussion about World Social Forum and US Social Forum process, video from VT delegation in 2007 in Atlanta, and then fun, food and drinks.
Building A Movement For Worker Justice Sponsors:
Alliance@IBM/CWA Local 1701
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1343
Child Labor Education & Action (CLEA)
Communication Workers of America (CWA)
Ironworkers Local 7
Senator Bernie Sanders
Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), UVM Chapter
Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), Green Mountain College Chapter
United Academics UPV/AFT
United Electrical Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) Local 267
United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) Local 5109
United Professions of Vermont, American Federation of Teachers (UPV/AFT)
United Staff at UVM
Vermont Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals Local 5221, UPV/AFT
Vermont Livable Wage Campaign — Peace & Justice Center
Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA)
Vermont Workers' Center — Jobs With Justice
Washington-Orange-Lamoille Counties Central Labor Council AFL-CIO
Week of Action Jan 20-28
Many Struggles, One Movement!
Week of Action, January 20-28
Sunday, January 20
Community Dinner and Information Fair on PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING & NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND 6pm, Lawrence Barnes Elementary, 123 North St, Burlington Sponsored by the Burlington Livable City Campaign and Barnes PTO
Monday, January 21
AT THE RIVER I STAND(powerful film about MLK assassination and Memphis sanitation workers' strike) 7pm, Vermont Workers' Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington
Tuesday, January 22
UNDOING RACISM (short film, discussion and planning) 6-8pm, Vermont Workers' Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington
Wednesday, January 23
PANEL ON RACISM AND WAR
6pm, 116 Aiken, UVM sponsored by Peace & Justice Center
Thursday, January 24
Burger King Solidarity Action for Coalition of Immokalee Workers
12noon, Williston Rd, S. Burlington (Email james [at] workerscenter.org if you can help)
Friday, January 25
Michael Moore's SiCKO 7pm,
VT Workers' Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington
(Bring your friends who haven't seen this film yet)
Saturday, January 26
BUILDING A MOVEMENT FOR WORKER JUSTICE CONFERENCE
9am, UVM Davis Center (There is no-charge, over a dozen great workshops, Register On-line)
PANEL: BUILDING A MOVEMENT FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE AND LIVABLE WAGES
12:45pm, UVM Davis Center.
Panel featuring:
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Larry Cohen, Communication Workers of America (CWA), national president
Angelo Dorta, Vermont NEA president
Jennifer Henry, Fletcher Allen nurses union and UPV/AFT president
Angela DiGuilio, UVM Student Labor Action Project
MARCH: TROOPS HOME NOW, HEALTHCARE IS A RIGHT, CLIMATE JUSTICE
2:30pm, march leaves from UVM Davis Center to Church Street
Bring your banners, signs, and join hundreds of people and giant puppets
GLOBAL WARMING PANEL
4pm, Contois Auditorium, Burlington
lead sponosr Global Justice & Ecology Project
SOCIAL FORUM SOCIAL – VWC Fundraiser
6:30pm, Vermont Workers' Center,
294 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington
Discussion about World Social Forum and US Social Forum process, video from VT delegation in 2007 in Atlanta, and then fun, food and drinks.
Monday, January 28
Citywide LIVABLE WAGE BUTTON DAY to support Burlington school support staff workers
The Burlington Livable City Coalition invites you to where livable wage buttons on Jan 28th (and Jan 29th, too if you like) to support the food serive and other Burlington school support staff workers who still don't earn a livable wage as they are in contract negotiations. Buttons can be picked up at the VT Workers' Center, 294 North Winooski Avenue or the Peace & Justice Center, 21 Church Street, Burlington.
Highlights of 2007, Movement Building in 2008
Highlights of 2007, Movement Building in 2008
As 2007 began, the Vermont Workers’ Center (VWC) was focused on keeping the momentum of the Burlington Livable City Coalition after the 2006 contract victories for Fletcher Allen nurses (UPV/AFT Local 5221), Burlington Teachers (BEA) and University of Vermont (UVM) Service & Maintenance workers (UE Local 267). We were still in the midst of a difficult struggle of COTS employees who ultimately had their right to organize denied by their administration and Board of Directors.
In February, we partnered with the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign to organize a Vermont Workers Rights Board Hearing with Bernie Sanders hearing testimony from dozens of people from a wide variety of workplace struggles fighting the economic “Race To The Bottom.” People working in education, construction, hospitality and factories all talked about the need to organize together to reverse the economic trends and combat corporate policies that hurt working people everywhere.
In March, we were working on our other main priority, which was training emerging workplace leaders. Twenty-five participants from over a dozen Burlington-area workplaces attended out first ever VWC Solidarity School, a skill-building three day training focused on organizing in the workplace.
In April, another event brought together many of struggles of 2007 when we mobilized a March for Livable Wages & Family Supporting Jobs in Burlington that started at HO Wheeler School with school support staff workers, then went down the retail and food service downtown sector of Church Street, some of whom were fighting for the Tipped Minimum Wage increase, then stopped outside a Verizon facility to join workers who were ramping up their fight to Stop The Sale to Fairpoint, before finally heading up to UVM where the Student Labor Action Project for the second year in a row had created a Tent City encampment in their struggle to create livable wage and right to organize policies at their university.
In honor of May Day, we held our 9th Anniversary Dinner and Celebration, which between breaking bread with the UVM hunger strikers, the inspirational Elaine Bernard and the moving speeches by Vermont members of the Iraq Veterans Against The War was truly a night to remember.
On June 12th, the Burlington Livable City Campaign mobilized for a huge turnout for the School Board meeting calling for livable wages. Also that month we partnered with Vermont Health Care For All and VPIRG to raise funds for hundreds of free tickets to uninsured Vermonters to see Michael Moore’s film “SiCKO.”
When July began, a large group of VWC members were in Georgia, as in Atlanta, GA comprising our big delegation to the first-ever US Social Forum in Atlanta (check out a very cool short video from the VT crew).
July ended with one of our biggest Steering Committee meetings to date on the Burlington Waterfront, and at that Summer Meeting we decided to turn our focus for August and much of September on the Stop The Sale of Verizon to Fairpoint Struggle affecting over 600 Vermont workers and thousands more in NH and ME organized with CWA and IBEW.
We got very familiar with the Vermont county fair circuit as we tabled to Stop The Sale all over the state. This was heating up Labor Day Weekend, when IBEW Local 2326 was tabling at the Champlain Fair, we were down at the Vermont State Fair in Rutland, we organized a big event at the Old Labor Hall in Barre, sent a crew to canvass to Stop The Sale in Northfield and still helped organize the 6th Annual Burlington Labor Day Celebration drawing 300+ people.
October 9th was a particularly busy, but fruitful day. First we mobililed members to join the Fletcher Allen nurses union for a rally to Save The Nurse Midwives and the FAHC midwifery program. Then that evening as part of the Livable City Coalition we brought another community delegation to the Burlington School Board demanding livable wages for support staff. With the help of this solidarity, by the end of that week, there had been two victorious settlements, as the midwifery program had been taken off the chopping block and the Burlington paraeducators got a livable wage agreement after years of struggle.
In November, as part of Vermont Labor Against The War, VWC members loaded into two vans to participate in the huge anti-war rally in Boston and a couple of days later joined the Burlington Education Association to celebrate the paraeducator livable wage contract ratification. On November 17th, the VWC opened its doors to the new Burlington office, and now we truly have a Center!
On December 10th, Intl Human Rights Day, we kept up the pressure on the Burlington School Board for livable wages for the rest of the support staff by holding a candlelight vigil outside their negotiations with food service workers. We also published the VWC 2008 People’s Calendar, which thanks to some gifted designers and hardwork researching dates and photo archives - truly came out amazing (we still have some left, order yours before they are all gone, very cool).
We closed out the year by holding a solidarity action protesting the demolition of public housing in New Orleans. And then the surprise big news came out, thanks to the hard work of the Verizon workers and many of you, and despite the hundreds of thousands spent of advertising and lobbying, the Vermont Public Service Board rejected the Verizon Sale! In NH and ME it passed, but once again Vermonters proved to be a tough bunch to fool. This fight isn’t over yet, but despite serious odds we pulled out a big victory in Round 1. The Verizon sale will still comeback with revisions to try to get approval (stay updated at www.stopthesalenow.org )
Now 2008 is here, there are huge challenges, but already there are signs working families have had enough and will organize for change. On Jan 3rd, we organized a press conference supporting 400+ workers (90% + who are women) at Stanley Associates in St. Albans who are organizing a union in response to massive speed-ups and wage cuts from this federal contractor. They are incredibly united, but will need everyone’s support (see photo and letter we sent to CEO).
If you hadn’t heard yet, we are coordinating a huge Jan 20-27 Week of Action which includes on January 26th helping organize a really huge event, Building A Worker Justice Movement in Burlington (it would be great if you pre-registered right nor on-line! And even greater if you got some others to do the same, download flyers). On January 28th we are organizing a citywide livable wage button-day in Burlington to support the rest of the Burlington school support staff. Starting in February we are holding the 2008 Solidarity School Training on Saturdays spread out through the winter (let us know if you are interested, email james [at] workerscenter.org )
Help us Build A Movement in 2008! Change is in Air!!
Community Calls On Stanley To Respect Workers' Rights
(Stanley workers speak at press conference in their St. Albans union office)
On Thursday, the Vermont Workers’ Center organized a press conference with workers at Stanley Associates in St. Albans who are organizing with the UE and and elected officials to release a public letter to Stanley to respect workers right to organize. The letter (text below), signed by US Senator Bernie Sanders and two dozen other Workers' Rights Board members, elected officials, local business owners and community leaders requests that Stanley not spend tax-dollar money on union-busting consultants and otherwise interfere with workers right to organize at its Vermont facilities employing over 400 Vermonters. Attending the press conference were Franklin State Senator Sara Kittell and State Representatives Kathleen Keenan and Jim Fitzgerald of St. Albans and Michel Consejo of Sheldon Springs, Vermont. Media coverage included WAMC - North Country Public Radio, WCAX News Channel 3 (link to transcript), WPTZ News Channel 5, St. Albans Messenger (read frontpage story here) and Channel 15 Community Public Access in St. Albans.
On December 27th, Stanley workers petitioned for a union election with the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE). See last Friday's lead cover story in the St. Albans Messenger.
Text of Community Letter:
January 3, 2008
Philip Nolan , CEO
Stanley Associates, Inc.
3101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201
Fax: 802-527-4689, 703-683-0039
Dear Mr. Nolan:
We understand that workers now employed by Stanley Associates, Inc. are organizing and call upon you to respect their right to form a union without interference. We have heard workers concerned with cuts to pay and new management practices are exercising this basic human right to explore collective bargaining. We support them in this endeavor and request that Stanley not engage in anti-union activity or otherwise interfere with this process.
We have heard it reported that Stanley is very proud of being found a good employer by Fortune Magazine. We hope you will now act as a responsible employer and respect your employees’ right to organize. In receiving this latest $225 million government contract, Stanley has the responsibility to tax-payers not to waste any of this money on an anti-union campaign.
We have asked workers to keep us informed about their organizing efforts, and hope they will be able to report that their rights to make this decision have been respected.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Sincerely,
Bernie Sanders, US Senator
Ron Allard, Vermont State Representative, St. Albans, Vermont
Rabbi Joshua Chasan, Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, Vermont
Michel Consejo, Vermont State Representative, Sheldon Springs, Vermont
Hilary Denault-Reynolds, Owner-Operator Heroes Kingdom Store, St. Albans, Vermont
Joey Donovon, Vermont State Representative, Burlington, Vermont
James Fitzgerald, Vermont State Representative, St. Albans, Vermont
Gary Gilbert, Vermont State Representative, Fairfax, Vermont
Dan Green, Owner-Operator Greenstone Landscaping, St. Albans, Vermont
James Haslam, Vermont Workers’ Center, Director, Burlington, Vermont
Helen Head, Vermont State Representative, South Burlington, Vermont
Donna Howard, Owner Operator Eloquent Page Bookstore, St. Albans, Vermont
Richard Howrigan, Vermont State Representative, Fairfield, Vermont
Kathleen Keenan, Vermont State Representative, St. Albans, Vermont
Sara Kittell, Vermont State Senator, Fairfield, Vermont
Mark Larson, Vermont State Representative, Burlington, Vermont
Virginia Lyons, Vermont State Senator, Williston, Vermont
Mark MacDonald, Vermont State Senator, Williamstown, Vermont
Norman McAllister, Vermont State Representative, Franklin, Vermont
David McWilliams, AFSCME Local 1343, St. Albans, Vermont
Christopher Pearson, Vermont State Representative, Burlington, Vermont
Rebecca Smith, Burlington Education Association, President, Burlington, Vermont
Kristy Spengler, Vermont State Representative, Colchester, Vermont
Rachel Weston, Vermont State Representative, Burlington, Vermont
David Zuckerman, Vermont State Representative, Burlington, Vermont
HUD OFFICE SHUT DOWN: Solidarity Support For New Orleans Public Housing Fight
Today, members of the Vermont Workers' Center visited the Vermont offices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to protest HUD's plans to demolish thousands of units of public housing in New Orleans, without guaranteeing former residents replacement housing or even allowing them a meaningful voice in the process of rebuilding affordable housing in New Orleans. It appears when HUD officials heard we were coming they shut down the whole office. When we arrived at 11am here's we found the office closed down, with a sign saying they would return at 4pm, yes 4pm! 
We delivered this statement:
Just over two years ago, New Orleans was devastated by the lethal combination of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most powerful hurricanes in recent memory, and the blatantly racist and classist neglect of the federal government for the city's low-income, overwhelmingly African-American residents. In the wake of this disaster, and with the federal government seemingly abandoning its obligations to Gulf Coast residents, many Vermonters stepped up to do what we could. The City of Burlington adopted Moss Point, Mississippi as a sister city, Burlington’s Imani Center coordinated a truckload of donated food and household supplies, and many made the trek to New Orleans to work with grassroots organizations such as Food Not Bombs and Common Grounds.
For two years, federal, state and local governments have not lived up to their responsibilities to the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Hundreds of thousands of people are homeless or exiled. Instead of receiving the infrastructure and services to allow for the safe return of Gulf Coast residents, the region remains in ruins, peoples’ livelihoods destroyed and entire communities displaced. We are outraged that four large public housing complexes are to be destroyed in the city of New Orleans. We understand that this represents the demolition of over 4600 homes, while only 744 units are expected to be rebuilt. This comes at a time when 52,000 families throughout the Gulf Coast region are about to be forced out of trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Hundreds of people who have been kicked out of their homes are resisting these demolitions. They have had no say in the decision of HUD to destroy their homes, they have been barred from participating in their local city council meetings and pepper sprayed when they try to make their voices heard. As working-class Vermonters we stand in solidarity with these activists and demand an end to the destruction of public housing. Our city of Burlington, Vermont has long required that developers tearing down existing housing units replace them one-for-one, with strict guidelines about providing affordable housing. While this has not by itself solved the affordable housing crisis in Burlington, we believe it is a good principle, and we demand that HUD, at a minimum, adhere to it. We also strongly encourage our U.S. Senators to do everything they can to ensure passage of the Gulf Coast Recovery Act (SB 1668), which would require Gulf Coast recovery efforts to abide by these principles.
It is becoming increasingly clear that affordable housing is being eliminated all over the country. From the Old North End of Burlington Vermont to the 9th Ward of New Orleans we stand together to resist the process of gentrification. We are holding HUD responsible for this racist attack on poor black communities in New Orleans and demand that money spent on destruction be put towards rebuilding the affordable, public housing that was damaged over two years ago by Hurricane Katrina
After we delivered the statement we went outside and leafletted people in the community before taking two delegations to Senators Leahy and Sanders to push for their support of Gulf Coast Recovery Act.
We also got got some good media coverage including Channel 5 and Vermont Public Radio (hear interview with Workers' Center leader Jonathan Kissam on VPR news) and we were welcomed on to Burlington's newest community radio station, The Radiator. Here is Workers' Center Director James Haslam in the radio booth:
More info: on the struggle to defend public housing in New Orleans: www.defendneworleanspublichousing.org
More info on the Gulfcoast Recovery Act: www.gulfcoastrecover.com
REGISTER NOW: Jan 26th Building Worker Justice Movement
The Vermont Workers' Center is pleased to announce that on January 26, workers, students, educators and health care providers from around the state will be gathering at Building a Movement for Worker Justice.
This will be a three part conference, geared for working Vermonters, students and including our annual Justice For Healthcare Workers focus. It aims to build a stronger movement for workers' rights, livable wages, economic justice, quality healthcare for all and global solidarity. After the conference there will be a major rally and march as part of the Global Day of Action.
View agenda, download brochures and register at http://www.workerscenter.org/register/#jan26
REGISTER NOW (its free!)
Dec 10 Candlelight Vigil: Burlington Livable City Campaign
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On Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 3:30 pm members of the Burlington Livable City Coalition, a community coalition that works to ensure Burlington is truly livable for all its resident, held a candlelight vigil outside AFSMCE/School District negotiations asking the school district to do the right thing and pay a livable wage (including members of VT Workers' Center, Livable Wage Campaign, BEA, SLAP, UVM United Staff, AFGE, and Laborers). December 10th is recognized by the United Nations as International Human Rights Day – this action helps to bring to light that workers’ rights are human rights. It is a human right for a worker to meet their basic needs of food, housing, transportation, child care, health care and clothing – being paid a livable wage will allow for this.
“It is fitting that this contract negotiation is happening on Human Rights Day, we will hold this candlelight vigil because having livable wages is a fundamental human right,” said James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers Center, which helps coordinate the Burlington Livable City Coalition. “When Burlington food service workers receive a livable wage that is a victory for the entire community, and we need to move to where every worker in Burlington and across Vermont gets paid a livable wage.”
For the past three years the Food Service workers in the Burlington School District, members of AFSMCE Local 1343, have fought to receive a livable wage. However, despite the recent livable wage victory of the para-educators and the Burlington Education Association (BEA), the Food Services workers remain in negotiations with the Burlington School District.
“After our recent livable wage victory it is more important then ever that the Burlington School District will do the right thing and pay the food service workers a livable wage for their valuable work,” said Donna Iverson, an Edmunds Elementary School para-educator and leader of their recent victory.
According to the Report on Livable Wages in Burlington Schools put out in June 2007 by the Peace and Justice Center’s, Vermont Livable Wage Campaign and the Vermont Workers Center, no food service workers make the hourly livable wage, 43% earn $8.59/hr or less in 2005-2006 school year, and 94% of food service workers are women.
“As the school district continues to confront the issue of poverty in our schools, it is imperative that they make sure their employees make enough to meet their basic needs,” says Colin Robinson, Director of the Peace and Justice Center’s Vermont Livable Wage Campaign. “If the children of your own food service workers make so little that they qualify for free or reduced price lunch, you know you have progress to make in combating poverty.”
AFSMCE Local 1343 and the Food Service workers have been in negotiations since their contract ended on June 30th, 2007. No agreement was reached, however, indiciations that a livable wage settlement could happen soon.
Tell Governor Douglas To Stop The Sale!
Citizens to deliver message to Governor Douglas:
“Don’t let Vermont take a wrong turn on the information superhighway!”
Who: Seniors, clergy, first responders, teachers, elected officials, and telephone workers
What: Short briefing at 10:30 AM for news media at the State House. Immediately afterwards, our group will present a wheelbarrow with thousands of post cards the Governor's office.
Where: State House, Cedar Creek Room, Montpelier, VT
When: 10:30 AM, Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Why: The movement opposing the proposed sale of Verizon to FairPoint is growing. With all public hearings concluded, opponents of the sale want to make sure that the Governor gets the message: Stop the Sale!
More information about why citizens are mobilizing to stop the sale of Verizon’s landlines to FairPoint is at: www.stopthesalenow.org and www.no-deal.org