Vermont Business Magazine Today at the Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB), clerical, technical and specialized employees at the University of Vermont voted via mail ballot to organize their union, UVM Staff United, AFT Vermont, 333 to 122.
Norman Medina, a member of the UVM Staff United Organizing Committee, who works in Psychiatry, said “We are excited to join our colleagues at UVM who have already organized and won their union contracts. We now have the collective power to negotiate to protect and improve our wages, benefits and working conditions, and to organize for equity, justice and respect at UVM.”
“We look forward to coming to the negotiation table as equals with the UVM administration in order to make UVM better for ourselves as employees, for students, and for all Vermonters who engage with the university,” stated Alison Nihart, an Organizing Committee member who works in UVM Extension.
UVM issued this statement following the vote: “We were clear from the outset that the university supports the right of our colleagues to vote on their potential representation. The university values and relies on all of our employees, and remains focused on providing a great work environment for everyone, whether they are organized or not. We will engage with this new bargaining unit and negotiate a fair contract.”
In the coming weeks, an additional 700 staff in the professional staff category at UVM will be sending in their ballots to join UVM Staff United, AFT Vermont. Ballots will be mailed out by the VLRB on May 28.
“Like our colleagues who just won their union vote, we look forward to proving our majority and winning the right to a real voice at UVM,” said Rachel Wallace-Brodeur, an UVM staff member from the Pediatrics department who will be eligible to vote in the upcoming election.
AFT Vermont President, Deb Snell stated “We are proud of our newest members and welcome them to join us as we organize for justice on the job and across Vermont.”
AFT Vermont is Vermont’s fastest growing union. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the following organizing committees have won their union elections and joined AFT Vermont: Faculty at NVU-Online, Healthcare Professionals at Planned Parenthood NNE-VT, Imaging Technologists at UVM Medical Center and staff at UVM. https://aftvermont.org/
Source: MONTPELIER, VT - AFT Vermont. BURLINGTON UVM 5.19.2021