Livable Wage Victory for Burlington Food Service & Custodial Workers:
Burlington, VT – After a three and a half year campaign, Burlington school food service and custodial worker of AFSCME Local 1343 won an agreement that will bring its all of its members up to a livable wage by the end of the contract. This agreement is being celebrated as a ground-breaking victory. This is the second livable wage victory in less then a year, last fall the Burlington para-educators had the first livable wage victory in the Burlington Schools.
“It is incredibly exciting that after such a long struggle all the food service and custodial workers will receive a livable wage. Many of us struggle to make ends meet and work second jobs to get by,” says food service worker Sandy McAuliffe. “This a good step towards ensuring our families can meet their basic needs.”
The campaign for livable wages for Burlington food service and custodial workers has not been without struggle. It took three years of educating school board and community members, as well as organizing faith leaders, elected officials, other union members and hundreds of Burlington residents to show their support.
From the beginning of the campaign for livable wages, it was clear that in addition to being an issue of fighting poverty, it was also about gender wage inequity. This livable wage victory for food service workers finally helps to close the gender wage gap between municipal workers, who are guaranteed a livable wage by ordinance and are mostly men, and food service workers, who are predominately women and make less than a livable wage. “The fact that the food service workers are predominately women and were not guaranteed a livable wage was a clear example of gender wage inequity that is still all too pervasive in our society,” says Colin Robinson, Director of the Peace and Justice Center’s, Vermont Livable Wage Campaign. “It is wonderful that this inequity if finally being corrected within the Burlington school district.”
This livable wage success for food service and custodial workers helps to ensure that Burlington remains truly livable for more of its residents, however this is not the case for everyone. The Burlington Livable City Coalition (BLCC), a group of community organizations and unions that works to ensure Burlington is truly livable for all its residents, came together in part of this struggle. "The City of Burlington has been nationally recognized for being one of the most "Livable Cities In the Country", yet there are still thousands of families living in poverty and thousands of workers still being paid poverty wages. The Burlington School workers victory is a victory for the entire community. You cannot have a livable city without livable wages," says James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers' Center who helps coordinate the Burlington Livable City Coalition. "We know our city will be a better city when all the jobs pay real livable wages, when the children of this city are not forced to grow up in poverty, and when people can live in dignity. We thank the many people in this community who supported this fight and have joined the Burlington Livable City Coalition"
The agreement will bring food service and custodial workers up to a livable wage over the next four years. This livable wage victory comes of the heels of a livable wage victory for the Burlington para-educators last fall and is a huge step forward in making sure Burlington remains livable for all its residents.
See Burlington Free Press story "Burlington school workers earn new contracts" May 7, 2008
Livable Wage Victory for Burlington Food Service & Custodial Workers
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
10th Anniversary Dinner Celebrates Victories, Announces New Campaign: Healthcare Is a Human Right!
Barre Education Association president John Pandolfo spoke about Act 82, an unnecessary, dangerous and confusing law on local school funding passed by the legislature in 2007, which would require two votes to pass many school budgets. The Vermont NEA has been campaigning for the law's repeal, and the state house of representatives voted to repeal it in 2007; the repeal legislation is now sitting in the Senate.VWC President Dawn Stanger presented 2008 Solidarity Awards to several groups of workers and community members who stood up for justice over the past year:
- Fletcher Allen Nurse Midwives, members of UPV/AFT Local 5221 who successfully organized with parents and the community to keep the FA midwifery program.
Burlington School Support staff who are members of the Burlington Education Association and AFSCME Local 1343 who after a three year struggle have had a big livable wage victory.- Child Labor Education & Action - Vermont high school leaders of CLEA led a successful fight to win legislation for anti-sweatshop procurement policies for the State of Vermont. Their sweat-free legislation passed and they expect the governor to sign the bill tomorrow.
- Rescue Inc., workers who organized with IAEP Local 48, part of SEIU - who did the hardest, most courageous and smartest things workers can do, withstood an anti-union campaign and successfully formed their union.
- And finally, the workers contracted with Stanley Assoc., Northrup Grummon and Choctaw at the Vermont Service Center in St. Albans, who withstood an intense anti-union campaign and won. Now more than 200 workers in Vermont and hundreds more in CA are UE members.
We also recognized two special groups of people, the "Unsung Heroes" and 2008 Solidarity School Graduates:
Unsung Heroes: These our the folks who run the Hotline, put stamps on postcards, make the turnout calls, make the flyers, do the “grunt” work of movement building, the everyday, mundane tasks:Joyce Werntgen, Andy Crawford, Tina Scanlon, Julie Winn, Nick Parrish, Jennifer Shewmake, Angela DiGuilio, John MacLean, Emma Gordon, Kate Kanelstein, Michelle Lewis, Renna Temple and finally Amanda Blatchely, who designed the beautiful Solidarity Report and Healthcare Is a Human Right logo, posters and bumperstickers.
2008 Solidarity School Graduates: These are the people who participated in our second annual Solidarity School, the Workers' Center's comprehensive leadership training. These skill-building trainings cover organizing one-on-one, talking to your co-workers, building strategic contract and community campaigns, and the People's history of labor and social change.2007 participants who came back to help lead in 2008: Marilyn Eldred, Jen Larsen and Rebecca Smith
2008 graduates: Nick Parrish, Chris Guros, Lynn Parrish, Michelle Lewis, Jennifer Shewmake, Angela DiGuilio, Emma Gordon, Kate Kanelstein, David Hamilton, Margaret Russell, Tim Billadeau, Linda Scrivens, Dottye Ricks, Amy Lester, Susan Hunter, Jeannette Weilland and Renna Temple
The youngest Solidarity School graduate, SLAP activist Renna Temple, addressed the audience and gave an inspiring speech about the real meaning of solidarity.
Finally, Erika Simard, a former Specialty Filaments worker, closed the program by telling of her harrowing experience with the healthcare system. After being laid off and losing her health insurance when Specialty Filaments closed, she realized that the drugs she needed to deal with her heart condition and keep her alive would cost more per month than her unemployment and training benefits. She concluded by introducing the VWC's newest campaign, Healthcare Is a Human Right:Under this title, Healthcare Is A Human Right, we will build a statewide action network capable of winning and building a real democracy, where we are organized enough and strong enough to make all policymakers do what is right. Here’s the real exciting part of this announcement, one year and a couple days from now, on May 1st 2009, there is going to be an enormous rally at the State House, with thousands of Vermonters demanding healthcare as a basic human right. That day is a Friday, and the rally is going to be in the middle of the day. We are going to ask everyone who is sick of the current healthcare crisis and insecurity that we all face, to call in sick that day, take a sick day, a community health day, and join us at the State House. Some business owners who agree with us will decide to shut their doors that day and join their employees in Montpelier. Busses and car pooling caravans will come from every part of the state, to declare Healthcare Is A Human Right. Many politicians say that they agree with this, that it is good in theory, but its not politically possible. With this historic rally and the new network of working families that pull it off, we will change what is politically possible. We will make the healthcare crisis, a crisis for politicians, by mobilizing thousands of Vermonters to join us. Throughout our History, Vermonters have been known for being front runners, so lets show them what we can do!
Erika Simard's complete remarks >>
More photos from the dinner >>
WCAX Coverage of the Rally Against Act 82 >>
Speech Announcing the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign
Speech by Erika Simard at the Vermont Workers' Center dinner
April 27, 2008
Old Labor Hall, Barre, VT
Hello, thanks for joining us here tonight. Even though I feel I’ve told my story a thousand times, I will continue to tell it until I make a difference. I started at Specialty Filaments in 1983 at the age of 18. As a union member, I had good pay and excellent benefits. Even though to an 18 year old, the only benefit that was worthy was my vacation time, the rest made up the benefit package. I made a lot of friends and I became pretty vocal on policies and procedures, but it wasn’t until the mid 90’s that I decided I wanted to become an active member and I joined the executive board. Over the years we became a really strong, active union, I worked my way up and I floated between Vice President and President a few times. In 2001, after fighting and winning a good contract, and feeling like I was on top of the world, I had a heart attack, I was 36 years old. At that point I was thankful for my health insurance; it’s funny how our views change as we age.
In May 2005, Specialty Filaments announced they would be closing the doors in their Burlington plant in a few months. Thank god we had negotiated in a few contracts prior, that if there was ever a closing they would negotiate severance pay with us. So our business agent from Massachusetts came up and our executive board met with the company to negotiate our severance pay. They offered us only two weeks pay and said that was all they could do, their would be no negotiations. We refused, we had dedicated workers that gave over 30 years of service, there was no way we were going to accept two weeks pay for them or anyone else.
We contacted the Workers Center, whom we had established a little contact with over the years and asked for help. We knew what we wanted, but we weren’t sure how to go about getting it. With guidance from James and support from everyone else at the Workers' Center, we fought back. It was an incredible fight that even took us to Boston to rally the companies corporate headquarters. We contacted our customers to let them know what was going on and we held numerous press conferences and even got Bernie's office involved. We spoke on the radio and television and stood in solidarity in numerous rallies outside the plant letting the community know how we were being treated. We made a lot of noise, but we didn’t make a lot of negotiation progress until we decided to put a work injury flier together. We wanted to bring attention to the fact that our workers had suffered numerous permanent injuries, all for the sake of profit ... and that was our bargaining tool.
Again the company refused to budge when we tried to negotiate; so on our way out the door, we put the flier in front of their face and told them it would be going out at 6 pm tonight in all of their neighborhoods unless they agreed to negotiate a fair severance. It worked, an hour later they were calling us to make sure it didn’t go out and agreed to negotiate. I was kinda sad we didn’t get a chance to use it; it was a beautiful piece of work thanks to the folks at Seven Days that helped us design it. But at the same time it was very graphic and showed some terrible statistics and injuries which is sad but common in factory work. As a result of the flier, we finally won a decent settlement. It wasn’t the best but it was better than a paltry two weeks. I finished my last day of work on September 24 2005, and then it hit me, I had no health insurance and I needed it to live. I inquired about state help and they told me that if I was offered COBRA I had to exhaust those benefits before the state could help me. I take a ton of different medicines, so I called to see how much it would cost to purchase them, I found out my 10 or so different meds would cost 1,800 dollars a month! I was in tears, I literally could not afford to live. I had no choice but to pay the 400 dollars a month for Cobra out of my 1200 I received from unemployment. I had to move back home with my mother just to be able to pay for health insurance because I couldn’t live on 800 dollars a month. After my unemployment ran out and I was unable to find a decent paying job with health insurance, I decided to take advantage of the TRA which is the trade readjustment allowance. It’s a federal grant that has paid for my college, because I lost my job due to our countries trade policies, and at the same time it continues to pay me the wages I had been receiving through unemployment. Even though my weekly pay is distributed through our states unemployment office, it’s actually allocated from the federal fund.
As time went by, I stayed involved with the Workers' Center when ever I could even though I had a busy college schedule. I kept in touch with James about my cobra struggles and how unfair it was for anyone to have to pay those kinds of rates. Eventually the Middlebury plant shut down and the company went bankrupt, when that happened my COBRA was cancelled, two months earlier than it should have been and I was not prepared.
I was beside myself; I didn’t know what to do. I applied for VHAP and I was denied. The allotted figure for help is $1,169 dollars a month, I made 40 dollars too much! I can remember my case worker telling me that, and I was in disbelief, I said but you don’t understand, I have heart disease! She said “Well I’m sorry, but If we gave insurance out for every little sniffle, the state would be in a huge deficit” I said, every little sniffle? I have heart disease, I need insurance. She said, “I’m sorry, we can’t help you” and hung up the phone. At that point I just went numb, I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I kept running the figures over and over again in my head, 1,800 for medication, 1,200 for income and all I could do was cry and think “I'm gonna die”. So I called James in tears asking if he had any ideas as to what I could do.
He made some phone calls and got me in touch with Bernie's office. Phil Fiermonte tried to get me into the health center in Richford so I could get medicine and another woman from Bernie's office did some digging into my TRA grant. It was so nice to have support from caring people, James even offered to coordinate a sit-in at the VHAP office and to not leave until they gave me health insurance. My light at the end of the tunnel came when it was uncovered that my TRA money came from federal sources and therefore could not be counted as a state income. It was a loop hole in our system that no one at the agency knew of, but the woman in Bernie's office uncovered it. So I was given VHAP and it has still been an ongoing struggle. Each time I get a new caseworker at DCF, my VAHP gets canceled, so I have to call and explain the circumstances over and over again. In the end, I feel I am very lucky, but not everyone has the same results. No one should have to go through what I went through. Losing a job should not mean you lose your health or your home, and that was the choice left before me.
The reason I am here with you tonight is to announce our new Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign! Under this title, Healthcare Is A Human Right, we will build a statewide action network capable of winning and building a real democracy, where we are organized enough and strong enough to make all policymakers do what is right. Here’s the real exciting part of this announcement, one year and a couple days from now, on May 1st 2009, there is going to be an enormous rally at the State House, with thousands of Vermonters demanding healthcare as a basic human right. That day is a Friday, and the rally is going to be in the middle of the day. We are going to ask everyone who is sick of the current healthcare crisis and insecurity that we all face, to call in sick that day, take a sick day, a community health day, and join us at the State House. Some business owners who agree with us will decide to shut their doors that day and join their employees in Montpelier. Busses and car pooling caravans will come from every part of the state, to declare Healthcare Is A Human Right. Many politicians say that they agree with this, that it is good in theory, but its not politically possible. With this historic rally and the new network of working families that pull it off, we will change what is politically possible. We will make the healthcare crisis, a crisis for politicians, by mobilizing thousands of Vermonters to join us. Throughout our History, Vermonters have been known for being front runners, so lets show them what we can do!
The Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign
The Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign, a project of the Vermont Workers’ Center (VWC), aims to change what is “politically possible” in the healthcare debate through grassroots organizing and a strategic reframing of healthcare as a basic human right and the healthcare crisis as a human rights emergency. While our long-term goal is a universal, single-payer healthcare system, our focus in the immediate period is not on policy, but on educating, organizing and mobilizing the broad working class around the demand that healthcare is a human right.
Healthcare Human Rights Survey – the VWC has developed a survey which we will e using as an outreach, education and organizing tool. The survey will be used to collect data and stories about the impact of the healthcare crisis on Vermont’s working class, but more importantly, as a tool to have organizing conversations, educate those being surveyed about the human rights framework, and identify potential activists and leaders. We anticipate using this survey in a variety of settings, including workplaces, community organizations, and door-to-door canvassing.
Human Rights Hearings – as the campaign develops, we anticipate holding public Human Rights Hearings on Healthcare, to provide a place where working-class Vermonters can testify about the effects of the healthcare crisis and to publicly frame those effects as a denial of human rights.
Human Rights Report – this fall, building on the data collected on the surveys and testimony heard at the hearings, the VWC will work with other allied organizations to produce a report. The purpose of this report is to put into a readable, yet serious, written report:
- a human-right-based analysis of the healthcare crisis in Vermont
- a re-affirmation of the economic feasibility of a universal healthcare system
- "voices of the healthcare crisis" – to capture stories from the human rights surveys and hearings
Human Rights Conference – Marking the 60th Anniversary of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on Saturday, December 13th, the Workers’ Center will work with others to hold an Ella Baker Human Rights Conference at the University of Vermont (UVM). The goal of this conference will be to popularize and deepen understanding of and commitment to human rights framework and movement-building strategies among the campaign’s base and allied organizations.
Sick Day at the Legislature – on Friday, May 1st, 2009, the VWC will call on Vermonters to call in sick to work and come to the legislature to make the healthcare human rights crisis a crisis for our legislators.
[ Download a PDF flyer of this campaign description ]
VWC leaders attend US Human Rights Conference
by Erika Simard, VWC leader
I'd like to extend my sincere thanks to all, to have the opportunity and honor of attending the US Human Rights Conference in Chicago. I wanted to go because Health Care for everyone is a strong passion of mine. I have had my own issues dealing with our current system and I know first hand it doesn't work well. I don't feel anyone should have to make decisions about their health based on their ability to pay.
For me the experience was overwhelming. It was wonderful to feel so much love for mankind in a room made up of many different races and cultures. To be able to connect with others that have the same views and goals was very inspirational. The energy that flowed among all the participants was just incredible. To be able to be a part of the activities has given me a renewed sense that change is in our future and I will be part of it.
I really enjoyed the workshops and the Plenaries and just the connecting and meeting of others with the same vision. I found the workshops to be very valuable and they taught me a lot while providing me with the tools I need to help make a difference.
I went to this conference knowing in my heart that Health Care is a human right, but even though I knew it in my heart I had to connect it in my head as to why. I know now after attending the History of Human Rights workshop, why it is a human right.
The VWC does incredible work and I feel that by using the Human Rights framework it will help in any fight because it brings it home that these are international rights everyone should have. For instance, it's not just a fight for health care because we can't afford it anymore and the insurance companies are making a fortune off peoples suffering, It's a fight because it is a human right listed under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
I will be able to explain to others now that it is there. I also attended a workshop that helped to give a direction of our campaign by attaching the human rights framework to values that everyone can identify with. I believe this will help as we move forward in our campaign for health care is a human right.
JOB POSTING: Workers' Center Organizer
The Vermont Workers Center - Jobs with Justice has an opening for a full-time organizer to coordinate our new "Healthcare Is A Human Right" grassroots organizing project. This position will be focused on building a statewide action network of Vermonters in working class communities and organized labor to fundamentally change the politics of healthcare reform. Applicants should have experience in union and/or grassroots community organizing, strong written and oral communication skills, computer skills, drivers' license/vehicle and strong work ethic. Excellent benefits and the salary is at least $32K and will be more based on experience. For a more detailed job description, questions or to apply send your resume and a letter explaining why you would be a great fit for this job to info [at] workerscenter.org
Workers' Center Internship Opportunities
2008 SUMMER & FALL INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
The Vermont Workers' Center has openings for 2008 internship opportunities based in Burlington. We are offering great opportunities for anyone interested in workers' rights, economic justice, community organizing and connecting local struggles to global justice movements. These are unpaid positions, but tremendous opportunities for experience in a wide range of areas.
Focus areas include:
- Community & workplace issue-based organizing "Healthcare Is A Human Right"
- Community and workplace organizing, including outreach on tenants' rights
- Mobilizing solidarity & community support for workers' rights and economic justice
- Workers' rights and legal advocacy on workers' rights hotline and our drop-in community center
- Helping coordinate major Human Rights Conference in Burlington, event planning, mobilizing, and skill-building workshops (organizing, strategic planning) and political education (anti-racism/oppression, popular economics, people's history, etc)
- Video production and graphic design (ask us to see our previous design intern's portfolio)
- Non-profit administration, fundraising, grantwriting and/or database management
Please send letters of interest to james [at] workerscenter.org
10 Year Celebration Dinner !!!
5pm, Sunday, April 27
Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite St
Barre, Vermont [ Map ]
Join the us to celebrate a decade of fighting for workers' rights.
Solidarity Awards for victories and struggles
Free public event: enjoy great food (SugarSnap & American Flatbread)
Bring the family, your co-workers and friends
(Don't miss this event, there is going to be a very exciting and important announcement)
Solidarity School 2008
Extra thanks and shout-outs to the organizations whose education materials we learned from/used/borrowed/stole: Project South, National Network For Immigrant and Refugee Rights, UE Education Department, Beyond the Choir, smartMeme, POWER, and others we may have missed ...
More photos of Solidarity School 2008
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
Vermont Labor Against the War shows Winter Soldier Hearings
In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” In 1971, a courageous group of veterans exposed the criminal nature of the Vietnam War in an event called Winter Soldier. Once again, we will demand that the voices of veterans are heard. (from Iraq Vets Against the War website)
Schedule of topics:
Friday, March 14th
4:00PM - 6:00PM Rules of Engagement: Part Two
7:00PM - 8:30PM Aims of the Global War on Terror: the Political, Legal, and Economic Context of Iraq and Afghanistan
9:00AM – 10:30AM Divide To Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military
11:00AM - 1:00PM Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part One
2:00PM - 3:30PM Racism and War: the Dehumanization of the Enemy: Part Two
4:00PM - 6PM Civilian Testimony: The Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan
7:00PM - 8:30PM The Cost of the War at Home
We'd love to have you join us!
International Women's Day Party March 8
On March 8, 1908, working women in the needle trade industry took to the streets of New York City demanding better working conditions, higher wages, shorter workdays and the overall improvement of women's lives in this country. This year, on the 100th anniversary of that historic march, commemorated since 1910 as International Women's Day, join the Vermont Workers' Center in honoring all the working women who have fought for social justice with a short film, a panel discussion about working women's struggles in Vermont, and a social with refreshments and live music by VWC's own group, the Wildcat Strikers.
6pm Screening of With Babies and Banners, which tells the story of the women who became the backbone of The Great General Motors Sit Down Strike of 1937 — the labor movement's key to the successful drive for industrial unionism and a better life for working Americans.
7pm Panel discussion on the history of organizing around women's economic issues in Vermont and the history of the Women's Union, led by Elaine McCrate, Economics Professor at UVM.
8pm Refreshments, socializing and live music by the official band of the Vermont Workers' Center, the Wildcat Strikers.
[ download flyer ]
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.
The Chinese Labor Movement: Stories From The Inside
6:30pm, Vermont Workers’ Center, 294 N.Winooski Ave. Burlington
Talk by Ellen David Friedman, Vermont Workers' Center founding member and long-time labor organizer is just back from a half-year in Guangzhou, where she is engaged in the Chinese labor movement at several levels. Ellen will share first-hand stories ranging from her work with migrant workers groups organizing in dormitories of sweatshop factories, to involvement with reform-minded leaders of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) -- A chance to look more deeply into the reality of life and labor dynamics for one-quarter of the world's workforce
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.
Social Justice Film Series: SIR NO SIR, Feb 8th
Social Justice Film Series, 7pm, Fri, Feb 8
Vermont Workers' Center Social Justice Film Series presents:
"SIR NO SIR"
7:00pm, Workers' Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington. Free public event. This powerful film that tells the untold story of the massive movement within the military to end the Vietnam War. Sir No Sire is a feature-length documentary which focuses on the efforts by troops in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to oppose the war effort by peaceful demonstration and subversion. It speaks mainly to veterans, but serves as a ready reminder to civilians that soldiers may oppose war as stridently as any civilian, and at greater personal peril.
On January 21, the Vermont Workers' Center started there ongoing Social Justice Film Series with the powerful film "At The River I Stand" and then on January 25th played "SiCKO". Each film drew a couple of dozen local residents. After "Sir No Sir" the Social Justice Film Series presents "The Take" at 7pm on February 22nd.
More info: Call 861-2877 or email info [at]workerscenter.org
Healthcare Statehouse Rally Day - 11am, Thurs, Feb 7th
Join the Vermont Workers' Center in saying Healthcare Is A Human Right! Thursday is the follow-up rally from the 200+ people who came to the Statehouse on January 9th to put H.304, the Universal Hospitalization Bill, back on the table. The Vermont WOrkers' Center believes that high-quality affordable healthcare, from cradle to grave, should be a basic right of everyone and H.304 is a possible step in that direction. High salaried hospital CEOs intent on maintaining the status quo are talking with you legislators. Are you?
Come to Montpelier this Thursday, February 7th, and make your voice heard. Meet at 10:30 AM in the Pavilion Auditorium in the Pavilion Building, 109 State Street (just east of the Statehouse). At 11:00 AM we will head into the Statehouse for a presentation and then time to talk individually with your representatives. You can find out more about the bill at SaveVermontHealthCare.org and if you want to join the Vermont Workers' Center Healthcare Action Network, email james [at] workerscenter.org or call 861-2877
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.
Impact of FairPoint Settlement "let Verizon off the hook"
Labor intervenors in the regulatory oversight of the proposed sale of Verizon's landlines to FairPoint Communications submitted testimony to the Vermont Public Service Board concluding that modifications to the transaction as proposed by settlements in Maine and Vermont do not meet reasonable standards for financial fitness.
According to expert witness Randy Barber, "this transaction could create profound – even perverse – incentives for FairPoint to cut expenses and capital spending...just when it should be continuing to invest heavily in rebuilding the communications network."
"The proposed stipulation in Vermont yet again lets Verizon off the hook for the hundreds of millions of additional dollars it should be putting into this transaction," Barber wrote to the PSB on January 24. "Instead, it forces FairPoint to dig itself even further in the hole and foot the bill for every single provision that the DPS extracted from it. In the process, it amplifies the perverse incentives to cut service and spending that FairPoint already accepted in the Maine proceedings.
"Verizon should not be permitted to abandon Vermont without making adequate provision for the future prospects of its customers, communities and employers. Absent a very significant increased financial commitment from Verizon, I conclude that FairPoint will not be financially fit to own and operate Verizon's Vermont network. The Board, therefore, should reject the proposed stipulation and affirm its earlier decision rejecting the transaction."
VT statehouse hearing set for Thurs, Jan. 31
Barber will testify at a Senate Economic Development Committee hearing at 8:30 AM in Room 10 and to the Vermont House Commerce Committee at 11:30 AM in Room 35 at the statehouse on Thursday, January 31.
The hearing was called after legislators wrote to the PSB on January 16 with concerns about the impact of the proposed revised Verizon FairPoint proposal.
The elected officials wrote that the stipulation must, "ensure that FairPoint has the financial capacity to provide affordable broadband by the year 2010 to all residences and businesses in all regions of the state that Verizon serves."