On March 3 2006 the 98-year-old Capital City Press in Berlin, Vermont shut its doors for the last time and 200 skilled workers, members of the Teamster-affiliated Lithographers Local 1, found themselves without jobs.[102] The decision to close down the facility was made as a cost cutting measure by the print shop’s parent company—the Maryland-based Sheridan Group. Production formerly done in the Green Mountains has been transferred to a nonunion plant in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Immediately after the announced closing, many Capital City Press employes came together to see if they could establish a new print shop that would be better rooted in the community and ultimately owned by the employes.

Dan Brush, a former Capital City Press worker and current business manager of Local 1, explained that his union was “60 percent” down the road to getting the new company off the ground. He and other members of the committee have been meeting with third parties trying to raise capital and pursue block grants. They had also been reaching out to former Capital City Press customers and had already secured over $1,500,000 in projected sales. If all goes according to plan, they expect to open, providing employment for 35 people, in June or July 2006.

If successful, these print workers will join other Vermont companies such as Carris Reels, Croma Technologies, the Trust Company of Vermont, and King Arthur Flour as the latest addition to the growing list of employee-owned Vermont businesses. In total there are 45 worker-owned companies in Vermont employing an estimated 2,200 people.

According to Don Jamison, director of the Burlington-based Vermont Employee Ownership Center, worker-owned businesses are on the rise. He explained that the reasons why people pursue worker ownership are diverse. Some do it to cash in on tax benefits offered by the state. In other cases businesses choose to transition towards worker ownership as an exit strategy for a private owner. Still others do so because of a sense of moral obligation. Whatever the reason, supporters contend that employee-owned companies have achieved higher levels of productivity, are less apt to relocate out of state, and tend to offer better pay and benefits than comparable jobs in traditional corporations.

Worker Cooperatives

The vast majority of employee owned businesses are organized according to one of two dominant models: worker cooperatives or Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). Worker co-ops represent just over 20 percent of employee owned companies in Vermont. However, these tend to employ far fewer workers then ESOPs. While practiced on an industrial scale in a number of nations, including Spain, Italy, and Argentina, in Vermont it is rare that co-ops involve more than 20 people. For example, the Red House construction co-op in Burlington and the Langdon Street Café co-op in Montpelier both employ 15 people. The Brattleboro Tech Collective employs three.

Some worker co-ops, like Red House, were started for practical reasons, such as the desire to attract and retain highly qualified workers. Others, such as the Langdon Street Café, were started for more philosophical reasons, such as the desire to extend town meeting-type democracy into the workplace. All worker co-ops have democracy built into their structural model. This was done by either allowing every worker a voting seat on the board of directors or through workers electing representatives to the board from within their own ranks. In a co-op the worker-owners always constitute the majority of any decision making body.

While the ten or so worker cooperatives in Vermont differ depending on industry and the people involved, what co-op members hold in common is the belief that this model helps alleviate workplace alienation, increases output, and more equitably extends financial rewards throughout its membership.

David Evans, a member of the Brattleboro Tech Collective, contends, “We spend the bulk of our days and lives…laboring in a workplace. So I think the bulk of peoples’ experience is not having any control or real feelings of independence…. On the other hand, you don’t get apathetic when you’re a worker-owner. Once you take the reins of your workplace, it empowers you in other areas of your life.”

Wes Hamilton, a worker-owner at the Langdon Street Café (established in 2003), emphatically agrees. “You’d have a hard time finding anyone who would argue against freedom, equality, and democracy, but the funny thing is we are completely willing to accept what amounts to a dictatorship when it comes to work and your job. We decided on collective ownership because we want to live in a world where there is no dictatorship…and where there really is democracy and where everybody affected by a decision has a voice in creating that decision.”

For Hamilton, who describes himself as an anarchist, worker cooperatives represent an alternative model of how Vermont’s economy could be restructured along more equitable and democratic lines. In a certain sense he understands his co-op as a kind of propaganda of the deed.

“We are a small band of idealistic, politically-minded 20 somethings, but to the extent that we can make this work and get our philosophy and ideas out…I think it opens up the notion that worker owned cooperatives can be successful. It opens up the concept to people who may otherwise never consider it,” Hamilton explained.

Stock Ownership Plans

The majority of worker-owners belong to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and claim workforces well into the hundreds. While some are committed to workplace democracy, the only guaranteed commonality is that employes own some portion of the business. That portion can vary from 1 percent (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters) to a slight majority (Carris Reels) to 100 percent (King Arthur Flour). The way this ownership works is that after a set amount of time, qualified workers accrue stock that pays dividends as the value of the company increases. Collective ownership requires that departing employes sell back the stock. In this way ESOPs have built in financial rewards for the workers whose labor helps generate profits.

In general Vermont ESOPs put a heavy emphasis on “the culture of employee ownership” where employes are made to feel that their voice matters. They are typically encouraged to maintain an open dialogue with management, to take a more active role in the overall running of the company, and are often allotted representation on the board of directors. The extent of this representation varies. Gardener’s Supply Company in Burlington, for example, allows non-management one seat on a seven-member board. The former Capital City Press workers, on the other hand, plan to give the rank and file ultimate control over the board, presumably by giving non-management employes a majority of the seats.

Many within the ESOP movement report that their work environment translates into increased productivity, a decrease in absenteeism, and an avoidance of many of the management-labor frictions common in traditional corporations. However, not all are convinced of the workplace altruism that many ESOP boosters speak of.

While Vermont’s labor leaders speak highly of the worker cooperative model, when it comes to ESOPs they express varying degrees of apprehension. Vermont Workers’ Center Director James Haslam points out that the formation of an ESOP, despite the near universal talk of a culture of ownership, does not necessarily mean employes will be any more legally empowered than in traditional companies. Haslam contends, “Unless [companies] are worker run, and in a democratic way, then it makes sense for workers to have a voice in their own working conditions. The only way to have that truly is if you have a union.”

Traven Leyshon, president of the Washington County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, shares Haslam’s misgivings. “Who has the majority [and therefore control] on the board of directors and who is the management? Of course management is a technical skill. It usually does require hiring-in someone who has business expertize that the workers are not likely to have themselves, but who controls that person?”

Leyshon explains that his misgivings date back to his experiences in the 1980s while organizing in the labor movement outside Vermont. He says that during this period ESOPs were used as a tool to win concessions from union truckers across the U.S. He states that following the deregulation of the industry under Ronald Reagan many faltering freight companies went to their employes and convinced them to agree to ESOPs in exchange for large cuts in benefits and wages. He points out that all of these firms went belly up within the first few years of their existence.

ESOP enthusiast Cindy Turcat, chief operating officer of Gardener’s Supply Company and president of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center, admits that it is not accurate to paint all ESOPs with the same enlightened brush. “Not all people do ESOPS for the right reasons,” she warns.

Jamison recognizes the past exploitive nature of some ESOPs. “As with any complex financial arrangement…there is room for abuse…. In the 80s, when there were a lot of businesses going belly up, unions were sometimes suckered into bad deals for their members where ESOPs were used as a kind of a last way of ringing out concessions from employes as the business was going down,” Jamison explained. However, for him these abuses are primarily a thing of the past and asserts that the recent track record for ESOPs in Vermont demonstrates that the potential gains far outweigh perceived risks. Many people currently employed in ESOPs tend to agree.

Pat Bates, an employee-owner of the Gardener’s Supply Company, is a firm ESOP supporter. She sees employee ownership as a means for workers to feel more connected with the business, as well as a way for them to share in the rewards. “It’s [in part] about sharing the profits. We’re not working our eight hours a day, putting in our 100 percent so that the few elites can reap the benefits and profits and put them in their pockets. We all get to share in it. In the good times we can celebrate and in the difficult times we come together to find those creative resolutions,” says Bates.

At Green Mountain Coffee Roasters I talked with a ten-year veteran of the company. He affirmed that the benefit package and pay provided by the company is very good (i.e., full healthcare, time off, and occasional yoga classes) and he is particularly happy with the additional pay accrued by his stake in the ESOP. However, he also confides that in his opinion the company employs too many temps.

As at many ESOPs, temps and part-time workers are not eligible for ownership or benefits and commonly receive no more than $9 an hour. The human resources department reports that there are currently 60 part-time workers and 7 temps employed by the company.

One former temp told me his experience at the company was not qualitatively different than at other non-ESOP factories. He says, “I didn’t see any signs of anything [at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters] being any utopian pleasure palace. I saw people just trying to get through the day with equipment that was malfunctioning and deadlines that were to be met and demands by management to make more portions for sale.”

As for the coffee company’s claims of establishing a culture of ownership, he charged, “They said there was an open door policy, but saying that there was and actually accepting any feedback are two different things…. The only feedback that they [management] wanted to hear was, ‘Yes, I will work harder’.”

While this worker’s experience may or may not be common within ESOPs, many Vermont workers are still drawn to the model. Dan Brush and the former Capital City Press employes have chosen to organize their new business venture as an ESOP. Even so, they intend on borrowing certain elements of the cooperative model in order to provide meaningful worker oversight of management.

Brush asserts, “When we get up and running, we will be making all the decisions. We’ll all be shareholders. We’ll own a majority of the business. We will sit down and make the decisions. We’re not going to make the day-to-day decisions [for that they expect to hire a plant manager], but the big decisions.” Brush continues, “Since people are all union members and are used to having those types of meetings and making those type of decisions, this is something we are very comfortable with doing.”

The print workers also intend on keeping their status as a union shop. “There are a lot of good shops that are union shops where there aren’t a lot of problems between the union and management. I think we would be evolving into one of those shops and I think we may be growing into a vision as to what the future might be for parts of the labor movement as our manufacturing base leaves the country,” concludes Brush.

Whatever the future may hold, it is likely that worker-owned companies will continue to play a dynamic and increasing role in Vermont’s economy. What remains to be seen is whether or not this trend is capable of delivering actual workplace democracy or if it will be limited to providing financial rewards and a perception of employee participation. Regardless, in this era of outsourcing and stagnant wages, employee ownership will likely be embraced as a marked improvement to the status quo by many a Vermonter. The print workers are just the start.

Labor's First Strike Against the War (2008)

Montpelier VT, April 2008- The Executive Board of the Vermont AFL-CIO, representing thousands of workers in countless sectors across Vermont, have unanimously passed an historic resolution expressing their "unequivocal" support for the first US labor strike against the war in Iraq.[103] The strike, being organized by the Longshore Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), will seek to shut down all west coast ports for a period of 8 hours on the day of May 1st 2008. The Vermont AFL-CIO is the first state labor federation to publicly back the Longshoremen; other state federations are expected to follow.[104]

The resolution, among other things, calls the war in Iraq "immoral, unwanted, and unnecessary", states that the vast majority of working Vermonters oppose the war, and contends that the war will only be brought to an end by "the direct actions of working people." Many other Vermont labor unions and organizations, including the Vermont Workers' Center, have also made official statements condemning the war.

The resolution also calls on working Vermonters to "discuss the actions of the Longshoremen, to wear anti-war buttons, and to take various actions of their own design and choosing in their workplace on May 1st, 2008."

"Workers in Vermont and all across this nation are against this war. We have already demanded that the government end it, but they have consistently failed to heed our words. Therefore working people are beginning to take concrete steps to make our resistance known. If the war does not immediately end we, the unions and working people of Vermont, will also be compelled to take appropriate action," said David Van Deusen, a District Vise President of the Vermont AFL-CIO.

Traven Leyshon, President of the Washington, Lamoille & Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said, "Vermont labor has long called for an end to this war. The untold billions being spent on the war could instead be used to address our domestic needs. It is working people who pay the cost of the war - in some cases with our lives, but always with our sacrifices.

***

Vermont AFL-CIO Resolution In Solidarity With Longshoremen’s

West Coast Strike Against War April, 2008

Whereas the war in Iraq is immoral, unwanted, and unnecessary,

Whereas this unjust war is opposed by the great majority of Americans & Vermonters, the bulk of organized labor, and by thousands of enlisted military personal,

Whereas this unjust war has already resulted in over 4000 American dead (including a disproportionate number of brave Vermonters), and tens of thousands of service men & woman being wounded,

Whereas this unjust war has further resulted in untold number of Iraqi deaths,

Whereas the Federal Government has not made any constructive moves towards the ending of this war and the full removal of US troops, and instead has taken the course of escalation and indefinite occupation,

Whereas the government of Vermont, and especially Governor Jim Douglas, have failed to find ways to bring Vermont National Guard troops home from Iraq,

Whereas this war will only be brought to an end by the direct actions of working people,

Therefore, Let It Be Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO continues to stand in firm opposition to this war, and unequivocally supports the decision of the Longshore Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) to shut down the west coast ports for a period of 8 hours on May 1st, 2008, as a means of resistance.

Let It Be Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO stands in full solidarity with the New York Metro Local of the American Postal Workers who have resolved to conduct two minute periods of silence on May 1st, 2008, at 1PM, 5PM & 9PM in protest of the war and in support of the Longshoremen.

Let It Be Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO encourages all Vermont workers to stand in solidarity with the historic actions being taken by the Longshoremen & other labor unions to end this war.

Let It Be Further Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO calls for all Vermont workers to discuss the actions of the Longshoremen, to wear anti-war buttons, and to take various actions of their own design and choosing in their workplace on May 1st, 2008 as a means of resistance against this unjust war.

Healthcare Is A Human Right: Call In Sick May 1 (2009)

May Day demonstration for healthcare for all, Montpelier Vermont

Montpelier VT, April 2009- We know how things stand. The recession is teetering on a New Great Depression; many say we are already there.[105] Tens of thousands of Vermonters are out of work. Thousands more are slipping into severe poverty. Nonunion workers are losing their jobs and having their benefits gutted, while union workers are facing layoffs, pay cuts and increases in their health care costs. Republican Governor Douglas has reacted by calling for mass layoffs, a decrease in unemployment benefits and cuts in social services; all at a time when we need jobs and services more than ever!

Up until now, working Vermonters have been on the defensive. But, as a District Vise President in the Vermont AFL-CIO, I am here to say this is about to change. No longer are working people willing to pay for the greed and failures of the capitalist class. No longer will we stand by as Wall Street tycoons squeeze more profit from a broken system at the expense of our jobs, our health care, and our lives. In a word, working people are preparing to go on the offensive in the fight for a dignified way of life, and the Vermont AFL-CIO is ready and willing to stand by these folks wherever they may be.

On May 1, thousands will march upon the Capitol in Montpelier not only to insist that our jobs and services be made safe, but also to demand that all Vermonters be provided with health care now! The Vermont Workers' Center, with a constituency of over 25,000, has been organizing towards this rally for months as part of their "Health Care is a Human Right" campaign, and is boldly calling on people to "call in sick" and for small businesses to "voluntarily close down" in order to support the mass action on the 1st. The Vermont AFL-CIO, with our 10,000 members, has endorsed this day of action and is calling on our rank and file to take a "personal day" to attend the demonstration. We project that the May 1st demonstration will be of historic proportions. It will be the first shot fired in a battle to reclaim Vermont for the working man and woman.

So on Friday, May 1, stop whatever it is you are doing, and at 12 noon converge at the State House in Montpelier. It is time for working people to stand together and say "enough is enough!" "Health care is a Human Right" and we oppose the profit driven private insurance companies that make billions off of our sickness. We need a Vermont based single-payer health care system now, and we intend on winning it!

For more information of the May 1 Rally, and the "Health Care is a Human Right Campaign" go to: www.workerscenter.org

Solidarity,

David Van Deusen

Vermont AFL-CIO Liaison to

Green Energy and Good Jobs For Vermonters-October (2011)

Lowell Mountain Wind Farm, Vermont

An open letter to The People of Vermont, Gov. Peter Shumlin, and other interested parties:

Vermont’s leading voices for working families and the environment are united and speak with one voice when it comes to renewable in-state energy production. We agree that renewable energy production is necessary if we are to become energy independent, environmentally responsible and carbon neutral.[106] We also comprehend the building of these new energy facilities as a source of construction jobs for working people. However, the question becomes, will these jobs go to out-of-state corporations, will they go to irresponsible in-state companies or will they provide livable wages, good benefits and family-sustainable employment for a generation of Vermonters?

It is our common assertion that the environmental and economic issues related to new energy development cannot be separated. Creating green energy without also supporting a strong local economy, or aggressively seeking job creation without addressing basic environmental issues, undermines the future upon which our Green Mountain State is predicated. As Vermonters, as the leaders of organized labor, as environmentalists, we do not and cannot accept a disjunction between these two foundational beliefs. In brief, we need green energy, and we need good green jobs!

As the state of Vermont moves forward with its comprehensive energy plan, we have an opportunity to not only guarantee Vermont’s place of honor as a leader in the global struggle against climate change but also as a leader in local green-job creation. It will be by virtue of this multiplier effect, by virtue of breaking down the false dichotomy between environmental concerns and economic concerns, that we will firmly establish the cultural shift necessary to achieve sustainability, self-reliance and to further the common good in Vermont and beyond. Once again, history calls for Vermont to lead the way. Will we heed this historic call as we so often have in our proud past? That is the question before us today.

Therefore, we, the undersigned leaders of Vermont’s labor and environmental movements, with a combined membership in the tens-of-thousands, call on the [Vermont] Public Service Board to make local job creation, livable wages and good benefits a basic, binding and non-negotiable prerequisite prior to issuing a Certificate of Public Good for renewable energy projects. We further call on our governor, Peter Shumlin, to continue to be a strong voice in support of hiring local, ideally union, for these green energy projects.

We look forward to working in partnership with socially responsible renewable energy developers, the Public Service Board, our governor and the State of Vermont towards a green energy and green economic future. However, let it be known that we will publicly resist any and all new energy projects that do not address the needs of the people of Vermont, articulated as good jobs and a green environment.

Freedom & Unity,

David Van Deusen,

Conservation Organizer,

Vermont Sierra Club

This statement is endorsed by the following Vermont labor and environmental leaders:

Ben Johnson, President of the Vermont AFL-CIO

Jeff Potvin, President of the Vermont Building and Construction Trades Council

Michael Morelli, Business Agent for the Vermont Iron Workers Local 7

James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers’ Center

Zak Griefen, Chairman of the Vermont Sierra Club

Steve Crowley, Energy Committee Chair of the Vermont Sierra Club

David Stember, Organizer for 350Vermont

PAID SICK DAYS FOR ALL WORKERS! (2014)

Members of the Vermont Workers Center in Statehouse for paid sick days press conference, 2014

Moretown VT February 2014 -We, in each of our towns and throughout the Mad River Valley, are together a community.[107] As town meeting approaches, I trust that all of us, regardless of our particular political persuasions, agree. And, as a community, we do right to concur that one does well when one’s neighbor does well.

This commitment to our friends, family and fellow residents is an old one. When the Green Mountain Boys evicted New York land surveyors, tax collectors and sheriffs, I do not doubt that they too were motivated by this notion of self-preservation as inalienably linked to community; Freedom and Unity.

More recently, we saw this belief manifest during the crisis following Hurricane Irene. Two and one half years ago I was honored to see many of you from Waitsfield, Warren, Duxbury, Fayston and beyond coming to lend a hand in Moretown during our hour of need. Such acts of human camaraderie will never be forgotten. In essence, Vermont has a long and proud history of people reaching out in solidarity when their neighbors could use a hand. We are, in a word, a people who embrace and honor the core value associated with the very notion of community as the foundation upon which rests the prosperity of the individual.

Today, we can and do express our sense of community, not only in time of crisis, but also through a maturing social compact which gives form to the worth and well-being of our fellow citizens. Maintaining and improving an equitable education system that gives support to children and families is one such expression. Creating a Vermont controlled health care system that provides insurance and quality medical care regardless of job or lot in life is also such an expression. Guaranteeing that all working Vermonters are afforded the right to accrue paid sick days is yet another.

It is for these reasons that I support H.208, a bill currently in the Vermont House of Representatives that would guarantee all Vermonters the right to earn up to seven sick days in a given year. As your neighbor, I encourage you to support this noble effort too.

The fact is, all people get sick some time or another, most of us a few times a year. When this happens, when one has a fever, one should be able to stay home for a day and get better. And if your kid is home sick, and if both parents have to work, one parent should be afforded the economic ability to care for the child during that time of need. How could one begin to construct a moral argument against this statement? Either we are a community, and therefore embody the core truth inherent in the principle which is Vermont, or we are not. I assert that we are Vermonters.

However, the reality is that thousands of low-income people in these green hills do not have any paid sick days. When they get sick, they often must make a hard decision: work while their body and mind are turned against them, or stay home and miss one fifth of their weekly pay. For the many, this one few-and-far-between unpaid sick day means the phone will be shut off; the rent will be late; the kids will miss a meal. For those that do work when they are ill, not only does their productivity go down, but they typically infect their coworkers which, in turn, makes productivity sink measurably lower. Therefore, as a community and as Vermonters, it is absurd to maintain a status quo which serves no human, neighborly or long-term interest. For these and other reasons, H.208 (paid sick days) is supported by both Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and organized labor.

As a resident of Moretown, as part of the broader Valley community, I encourage all of you to take a moment to reflect on this human issue. I encourage you to express your support for H.208. I also encourage our two state representatives, Maxine Grad and Adam Greshin, to actively support this bill with no exemptions. I also call upon our governor and Washington County Senate delegation to likewise support this legislation. By doing so, they will all be casting a vote in favor of the Valley’s working families and in line with Vermont’s long tradition of valuing our community over short term and private interests. After all, one does well, when one’s neighbor does well.

*David Van Deusen is the elected First Constable of Moretown and the Chair of the Moretown Progressive Party Caucus. He is a former Moretown Selectman.

When We Fight We Win! (2016)

Vermont Agency of Transportation snow plow drivers affiliated with VSEA confronting Governor’s staff, Montpelier VT, September 2015

Bargaining Update, Montpelier VT, 4/20/16- Vermont Agency of Transportation workers, word has come in: WE WON.[108] On April 19th, the Vermont Labor Board chose the Vermont State Employes’ Association’s Last-Best-Offer. Therefore, the package proposal we submitted will be imposed as our next two year Contract. Therefore, this Contract will include the following:

• Pay Steps maintained (a Step = approx. 3% Wage Increase);

• 2% COLA in 2016, 2.25% COLA in 2017;

• Workers who get a Step every 2 years (or one Step during life of the Contract): 7.25% total Wage Increase (Steps & COLA) over life of the Contract;

• Workers in first 5 years of employment: 10.25% total Wage Increase (Steps & COLA) over life of the Contract;

• Basic Benefits maintained;

• No negative change to OT;

• AOT Foremen (and all persons in Pay Grade 23 & 24) will get Time-And-A-Half OT;

• No change to Mileage Reimbursement;

• No change to the start and finish date of Snow Season;

• $100 Increase to Snow Pay ($2100 total);

• $25 Increase to Boot Reimbursement ($175 total);

• $1 Increase to Tool Pay ($18 total);

• Full Pay to those AOT workers out on Workers Comp for Lyme Disease;

• Binding Arbitration (as final step in the Grievance Procedure-as opposed to going to the Labor Board) will be negotiated with goal of inserting it into Contract in 2017.

This is a damn good Contract. We won because you fought. And when we fought we were strong because we were organized, informed, stood united, did what had to be done, and never gave in. This is your victory!

Where We Started From: We have come a long way throughout these negotiations. When we started, the [Vermont] Governor [Democrat Peter Shumlin] was demanding -4% Wage Decreases, massive cuts to our OT rights, a one month extension of Snow Season, cuts to Mileage Reimbursement, and the unilateral right to degrade our Healthcare. We beat them back on every score. But let this be a firm reminder… Without a Union the Governor would have been empowered to implement the entirety of his anti-worker agenda. But we do have a Union, the VSEA, and it is a fighting Union! Instead of suffering such devastation, we emerged victorious. That is why Unions matter!

For our part, within AOT/VTrans, we had the priorities of winning a fair COLA, maintaining our Benefits, no unfair extension of Snow Season, increases to Snow Pay, Tool Pay, and Boot Reimbursement, 100% pay for those out on Workers Comp for Lyme Disease, and achieving Binding Arbitration as part of the Grievance Procedure. We have made significant progress on all accounts! That is also why Unions matter!

How We Won: We achieved overwhelming success for AOT/VTrans because of all the work you, the rank & file, put into this collective effort. We started by circulating the Dignity & Respect Petition (AOT/VTrans workers made up 36% of the 1100+ signatures); Doing the Garage Workers United For A Fair Contract Petition (which was signed by Union leaders in the great majority of the Garages); We had our Stewards deliver our petition to the Secretary of Transportation; When the State disrespected us by not showing up to Bargain on AOT/VTrans issues we marched on the Administration; When we did sit down to Bargain AOT/VTrans issues many AOT/VTrans workers came to support their Bargaining Team (this was a show of strength); We took photos of ourselves and our coworkers holding signs stating our Bargaining priorities (and produced a public video with them thereby building more public support for our fight); We called our State Reps and Senators to build political pressure in support of our priorities; Our NMU Chair Michelle Salvador helped organize a press event whereby all the major Unions in Vermont & the Vermont Progressive Party came out firmly in support of our goals; We also increased our Union membership consistently throughout the negotiations (thereby showing the Administration that we were getting stronger every day); And all the while your Bargaining Team (including Art Aulis of the Westfield Garage) stood firm and never gave in. It is because of that engagement, because of that action, that we won.

However, let it be said that we did not win on every single issue… We did not achieve Condensed Pay Steps for our DMV Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspectors (who are forced to retire at age 55). At times this goal seemed close to being attained, but in the end, we could not get it done for this Contract. But even so, our DMV Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspectors will, as a result of these victories enjoy the same fair pay raises outlined above. And come next Contract, the fight will begin anew.

All told the victories you achieved in this new Contract (which will go into effect on July 1, 2016) were significant. This goes to show that we win when we fight. And now, even as we celebrate these wins, our attention must turn towards the General Assembly. We now need the Legislature to fully fund this Contract. That is where the struggle now centers. And already today, AOT Garage Leaders from North Montpelier and Randolph will be taking part in a VSEA press conference in the Statehouse which will demand that the Contract be funded. On this new front I will provide you with updates, and actions requests, as events unfold and as action (again) becomes necessary. Together we will win! -Solidarity, Dave Van Deusen-Union Rep-AOT

NO RATS, NO RACISTS: WHEN WE STAND TOGETHER WE WIN! (2016)

Vermont Agency of Transportation mechanics, affiliated with VSEA, Berlin VT, 2015

Montpelier VT, 9/6/16 –Unionized Vermont Agency of Transportation Workers, we have come a long way over the last 3 years.[109] Average pay is up 10% (COLA & Steps), Snow Pay has gone from $1700 to $2100; Tool Pay from $11 to $18; Boots from $125 to $175; We have pay protection for Lyme Disease; Everyone has seen a reclassification; We have Union Members on Hiring Committees; We have a Labor Liaison to the Training Center; Foremen now get Time-And-A-Half OT; And when the Governor wanted to open the Contracts and/or cut hundreds of jobs [2015], we stood firm and won. We have done well because we have been united [Union Membership in the Garages now stands at over 80%]. If we are to continue on this progressive trajectory, we cannot let that unity be threatened from within. Instead, we must further strengthen our Solidarity in order to further build our collective power.

Unity & Solidarity means Union Members in the Garages are actively working their issues out themselves (at the lowest possible level) in order to best maintain a healthy comradery and good morale. Unity & Solidarity means all of us treating all our coworkers with the respect that our Labor and Union Membership demands (regardless of any differences we may have by birth or by principle). To not seek to work out problems with coworkers, directly, at the lowest level, or to discriminate against a Union Brother or Sister is a rat move and is inherently anti-Union.

But no amount of collective will can make the Garages (or any workplace) utopia. We will have our conflicts. But how we deal with those conflicts is what will set us apart.

• WORKING PROBLEMS OUT OURSELVES

When you have a problem with a coworker, deal with it at the lowest possible level. Respectfully talk to that coworker and explain your concerns. Seek to work it out directly. If, in good faith, you cannot work it out, talk with the local AOT Steward and seek to have them help mediate the situation. If need be, call your Union Rep. And don’t just complain. Keep an open mind and maintain a willingness to have a healthy give-and-take with the coworker(s) in question [good conflict resolution is a two way street]. In brief, let’s seek to deal with our own issues ourselves, as a Union, before they become unnecessarily large and drawn out. And let’s deal with them right away and not let them fester.

• ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

We also need to keep our eye on what is truly important. That is getting the job done (keeping the roads open), and improving our collective Working Conditions, Union Rights & Pay. We do this by standing together. It makes NO difference what race, religion, gender, age, or orientation your coworker is. They may be different from you, but you are coworkers and Union Members first. If we fail to recognize that and fail treat each other with the respect that that demands, we create artificial disunity and weaken ourselves collectively in the face of those who would seek to exploit that division. That is unacceptable.

As your Union Rep I am loyal to you. As a Union Member loyalty to your Union is expected. And part of that loyalty means your commitment to building and maintaining a basic unity in your Garage, within your Union, and among working class people in general. LOYALTY, UNITY, & SOLIDARITY; it is by adhering to those three principles, above all others, that we will continue to build the power that is the Union.

Solidarity,

Dave Van Deusen-Union Rep-AOT

A Gathering Storm In Washington: A Class War We Must Win! (2016)

Vermont State Employes’ Association union members march against opening the contracts and against job cuts, Montpelier VT, 2015

Montpelier VT, December 2016- Vermont Agency of Transportation Workers, your Union (the Vermont State Employes’ Association) historically does not endorse candidates for President of the United States.[110] Just as most Vermonters were partial to our own Bernie Sanders, we did not support Clinton and we did not support Trump. Although Trump only received 29% in Vermont (and lost the popular vote nationwide), he won the Electoral College. On January 20th he is slated to become the President of the United States of America.

I do not know or care what political beliefs you hold in your home as long as you put your Union first. I myself am Union to the end. I am not a Democrat and I am not a Republican. I have seen both these Parties look to screw us. I put blind faith in no mortal man or Party and I hold that respect needs to be earned (not assumed). I support livable wages, affordable healthcare, our Town Meeting democracy, and dignified standards of living for all workers and their families. I support all Unions and the right of workers to belong to a Union. But, like many Vermonters, I also oppose gun control, helmet laws, so called free-trade, and believe the statewide property tax should be abolished (and replaced with a progressive income tax whereby the we pay less and the rich pay more). I suspect that many of you are like me in these regards. But agree or disagree, the one thing that truly matters is that we all put our Union first. When we are attacked by the Democrats (like in 2015) we fight back. When we are attacked by the Republicans we fight back just the same. In this regards we are bipartisan.

Republican Donald Trump is now threatening to make all States like Wisconsin by decimating public sector Unions such as VSEA. Let’s make no mistake, he is coming after us as a Union and he will look to break us. If successful, he will roll back our ability to Bargain for fair pay and benefits. He will seek to cut federal funding for State programs which would lead to job cuts. He will appoint corporate stooges to the National Labor Relations Board, roll back OT rights, and diminish the ability of workers to form Bargaining Units & hold fair elections for Union recognition. Like so many Republicans and Democrats before him, he will not be our friend. But unlike those that came before, he wants more.

To be clear, together as AOT-VSEA members we have faced down many challenges over the last three years, largely against Democrats, and we have prevailed. Our hourly pay, on average, is 10%+ higher than it was in 2013. Snow Pay is $400 higher. Tool pay is nearly $7 higher. Boot Reimbursement is $50 higher. We never opened our Contracts, and we have not suffered layoffs. We achieved this by sticking together, taking collective action, and putting our Union first. But the challenges we face now are dire. The attacks will be National in scope, and no matter our strength as VSEA, we will need to fight this war on many fronts and with all the allies we can gather.

We cannot allow the politicians to divide the American people and pick us off one by one. We cannot shrug off potential attacks against women or minorities or fellow Unions. We must all stand together as one united working class in order to defend all those rights and social benefits which we have earned through our common blood, sweat, and tears.

For these reasons, the VSEA Board of Trustees has voted to allocate limited funds to sponsor a delegation of Union Members to attend the Million Woman March in Washington DC on January 21, 2017 (the day after Trump is scheduled to be sworn in). Already a dozen women Union Members within the Agency of Transportation have expressed interest in going. This is a good first step. But we will need to do much more in anticipation of the fight to come.

What We Need To Do:

• Conversations need to happen in every Garage about what is coming down the line, how we need to be READY to take action when called for or when necessary;

• We need to build alliances across Vermont and across the Nation. Locally, have conversations with your family, friends, and neighbors in order to express our collective concerns and ask that they stand with us when the battle is engaged;

• Support your VSEA Board of Trustees and other Union Officers when they seek to reach out to other Unions, community organizations, and different constituencies in order to build a popular front in defense of our common interests;

• Everyone needs to be a Union Member. Talk with any nonmembers in your Garage and have them sign up today by going to the below web address on the computer: www.vsea.org.

There are those within the Unions who are scared. We are not. We know what it means to fight and we look forward to the opportunity to show any who would doubt us what it means to be AOT Union Strong! We cannot be broken. We will win.

Solidarity, Dave Van Deusen-Union Rep-AOT

LARGEST DEMONSTRATION IN VERMONT HISTORY: 20,000 March In Montpelier Against Trump (2017)

Record crowds for Woman’s March, Montpelier VT, 2017

Labor Unions Need Not Stand Alone!

Montpelier VT, January 21, 2017 – Unionized Workers of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, Today thousands of Vermonters, largely women, converged on the State Capitol [population: 7,755] to protest against the stated policy objectives of US President Donald Trump and in support of women’s rights.[111] The Montpelier Police Department estimated the protest at 20,000, making this the largest demonstration in the history of Vermont. The rally was the local expression of the Million Woman March. As Montpelier filled with protesters, half-a-million converged on Washington DC (including 3000 Vermonters), with hundreds-of-thousands more taking to the streets in cities across the US and across the globe. Worldwide more than 2.5 million took part. In Montpelier demonstration participants included many union members. Among these were VSEA’s AOT Labor Management Delegate Peter Boyd (Marlboro Garage) and AOT/DMV union member Darlene Nunn (Montpelier Branch) along with their families. The demonstration was endorsed by dozens of organizations. From labor, official backers included the Vermont AFL-CIO, the Green Mountain Central Labor Council, and the United Electrical Workers Local 255. US Senator Bernie Sanders [Independent Democratic Socialist], Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman [VT Progressive Party], and human rights lawyer & Native American rights advocate Mary Gerisch were among the speakers.

To the crown Sanders boomed, “Mr. Trump, we are not going backwards we are going forwards… Yesterday at his inauguration Mr. Trump said he was for working people and against the establishment. But right behind him in the VIP section were billionaire after billionaire after billionaire who are the establishment. Donald Trump is a fraud and the American people will understand this. If there is a silver lining… I see workers and women and environmentalists and senior citizens; I see our people coming together… They are not gonna divide us up… We are gonna create the kind of nation we can we can be –a nation based on love and compassion, not based on hate and bigotry.”

Yesterday [1/20/17] tens-of-thousands also protested in the streets of DC against the inauguration of Trump. At times, these demonstrations turned violent, with banks and limousines being attacked and in some instances set on fire. On the West Coast the Longshoremen’s Union conducted an unofficial wildcat strike in protest of Trumps anti-union and anti-worker policy objectives. As a result, the Port of Oakland was effectively shut down, and other ports experienced disruptions. Point being, we do not stand alone.

President Trump [who lost the nationwide popular vote by millions and only received 29% in Vermont], in addition to being hostile to woman’s rights, has shown every indication that he will appoint a reactionary to the US Supreme Court that will seek to degrade labor rights for all workers. It is expected that through the Supreme Court Trump will seek to make all of the US, including Vermont, into one big “Wisconsin” whereby every possible obstacle will be set before us in our tasks of building and maintaining a strong labor union while seeking to negotiate fair contracts.

No matter what challenges are set before us (be they emanating from Republicans or Democrats), as long as we stand together, are organized, are ready to do what is needed to be done without fear or hesitation, and as long as we stand in solidarity with all our natural allies (from within other unions and community organizations) –we will prevail. We are AOT and we are UNION STRONG!

Today’s historic protest shows the potential of our power if we (the VSEA) and the labor movement as a whole work in cooperation with the millions of other Americans who also stand to lose from billionaires (be they Republican or Democrat) running the institutions of Washington. Together we are in fact The People, and together we will win!

-An Attack On One Is An Attack On All! Solidarity, Dave Van Deusen, Union Rep-AOT

WHY WE FIGHT ON THIS MAY DAY (2017)

Vermont Agency of Transportation Union Worker & Labor Leader Art Aulis-VSEA

Vermont AOT/DMV/VTrans Union Workers,

Your NMU Bargaining Team will be bringing forth a number of major AOT proposals to the next round of Bargaining (which will get underway in the fall of 2017).[112] These will include:

• Fair Wage Increases/Maintaining Pay Steps;

• No Negative Changes To Your Healthcare;

• Right To Use Only Sick Leave (Not Annual Leave) When On FMLA;

• Modest Increase To Snow Pay;

• Significant Increase To Tool Pay (For Mechanics);

• Annual Cash Stipend For Boots/Shirts/Sweatshirts

(All workers currently eligible for boots and shirts would receive this, plus the AOT Survey Crew. This cash would be put in your paycheck in the fall – Here we will aim to achieve more value than you receive now through the boot reimbursement and five t-shirts/one sweet shirt so that you may purchase other gear you may need such as high visibility jackets and raincoats);

• A Fair And Predictable System of Lateral Workplace To Workplace Transfers, Largely Based On Seniority, For All VTrans Workers;

• Increase To The AOT Comp Time Cap;

• Guaranteed (Limited) Weekends Off From Snow Season Status;

• A Mandated Four Day A Week Work Week (10 Hour Days) In The Summer, Starting In 2019 For All Garage Workers;

• Condensed Pay Steps For DMV Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspectors (and all others in Group C who are required to retire at age 55).

Make No Mistake: We have the power to win on many of these issues if we all do our part as Union Members. But Contractual gains alone are not the only reason we fight.

Working class people, one by one, alone, do not have sufficient power in society (such power is disproportionally held by the wealthy and elite). But we are the great majority of the people. When we come together as a Union we become a formidable power as an organized class, and we, together, have the means to affect the world around us. Yes, the first mission of a Union is to fight for fair pay, good working conditions, and rights on the job for its members; but a Union can and should also choose to turn its attention to other issues that impact working people outside of their place of employment. This may include political involvement, advocating for livable wages for all workers, paid family leave for all people, or healthcare as a basic right (all issues that VSEA has taken a public stance on). It may mean advocating for more local democratic control through Town Meeting, or better guaranteeing all citizens the right to dignified affordable housing, or access to higher education for all our children. The point being it is up to us as Union Members to decide what issues our collective power should be felt on. And in our Union we hold an Annual Meeting every year in September whereat all Union Members are invited to attend, all Union Members have a vote, and wherein all Union Members have a say in defining the strategic direction of our Union.

On this May Day, recognized as a holiday for workers throughout much of the world, I implore you to continue to build our Union, to be ready to fight to achieve the Bargaining objectives we have, together, set forth, and to give reflection to those other social issues which you would see our Union working to address. Our vision cannot be small. As we grow our power we should do so understanding that, when acting in solidarity with other Unions & working class people, there are few limitations concerning that which we choose to achieve throughout society. In a word, just because the world we inherit manifests itself as it does, does not mean that it cannot be transformed. When our common farmer-ancestors rode forth with the Green Mountain Boys, they could have instead chose to stay home and resign themselves to the reality of New York and Great Brittan dominating our hills: but they did not. Instead they chose to harness their collective strength towards the creation of a free and independent Vermont. And as we reflect upon the Vermont of today, I ask you to not only see what is, but also what should be. Being a working person gives you the reason to consider this question. Being a Vermonter gives you the right to consider this question. Being a Union Member gives you the means to make your vision a reality.

Justice For Snow Plow Drivers (2018)

Rutland VT, October, 2018 –As we all get ready to brace for another Vermont winter, imagine for a moment that you were the person your neighbors relied on to be ready at a moment’s notice to clear the roads of and ice. [113] Imagine that while they were going about their lives, they would expect you to be at home waiting by the phone, ready to forgo any personal business or problems and head out the door in sub-zero temperatures to answer the call for help. It wouldn’t matter if it was 3:00 AM on Christmas morning. It wouldn’t matter if you had to work 16 hours straight to get the job done. Your neighbors would be counting on you, and it would be your responsibility to get the job done. And when all that snow and ice melted, they would be relying on you again to repair the roads that were chewed up over the long winter and handle a number of other critical jobs.

Of course, you would expect to be compensated for your work, and hopefully receive some reasonable pay increases over time to help you and your family keep pace with the cost of living. But now imagine that your neighbors came to you and said they wanted to make deep cuts in your net pay going forward and even refund them some of the money they have paid you over the past two years. The dedicated, hard-working members of the Castleton Department of Public Works don’t need to imagine this scenario. They are living it - right now - thanks to James Leamy and his colleagues on the Castleton Board of Selectmen.

Driven by Leamy, the board is refusing to execute a new contract with these workers, opting instead to stonewall them for more than two years in contract negotiations in an effort to force wage and benefit concessions that would result in a severe cut in their real take home pay. That’s right. Despite the fact that many of these workers only earn $15.00 dollars and change per hour (some as low as $11 and change), Leamy wants to them to accept drastic, deep cuts in the net money they use to support themselves and their families!

It’s important to note that the union (AFSCME Local 1201) has offered to accept significant concessions that would in fact, result in a reduction in take home pay. We agreed to nearly triple our health insurance contribution rate in exchange for a modest two-percent pay increase in 2016 and again in 2017. But that wasn’t nearly enough for Leamy, who ironically enjoyed steady pay increases and affordable quality healthcare coverage as a member of his teachers’ union for many years. Leamy is demanding we pay four times as much for our healthcare and at one point, actually wanted the workers to pay that increase back to the town retroactively for the two years.

Despite the fact that these workers haven’t received any pay increase for two years, Leamy’s last offer was a five-percent increase spread out over the next few years (with no increases accounting for 2016 and 2017), coupled with a three-hundred percent increase in out-of-pocket healthcare costs for the workers. Leamy also wants us to dismantle the system that provides workers with time-and-a-half overtime pay for working those middle of the night snow-plowing shifts, and make cuts to vacation time going forward.

Adding insult to injury, Leamy and the board have also gone back on their word. At the onset of negotiations, the town and the union were agreeable to a set of ground rules that included a provision to use a neutral arbitrator (if necessary) to help settle our differences. They also agreed to refrain from what is known as regressive bargaining, which prohibits either party from moving backwards from formal proposals made during negotiations. They broke their word on regressive bargaining a long time ago. And recently, Leamy and the board broke their promise on another ground rule by refusing to use an independent arbitrator, presumably because it was not their best interests to have their shameful tactics reviewed by a neutral party.

For these reasons, AFSCME Local 1201 has filed two Unfair Labor Practice charges with the state. The first charge calls for Leamy and the board to honor prior proposals built around modest wage increases and more reasonable increases to employee healthcare costs. The second, calls on the state to force the board to abide by their pledge to use a neutral arbitrator.

We look forward to hearings on these charges and ultimately, to making our case in arbitration. In the interim, we look forward to hearing how the taxpayers of Castleton, and Vermonters generally, feel about how lousy Leamy and his cronies on the board treat their hard-working public employes.

We ask readers to share their thoughts with Leamy by phone at 802-468-5319 or by email administration@castletonvt.org

David Van Deusen Union Representative AFSCME Council 93 – Vermont AFL-CIO