Vermont Business Magazine Staff at Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont are celebrating management’s recognition of their union, United Justice Workers-VT, AFT-Vermont.
Over the summer and fall of 2024, nearly 100 professional and non-professional staff at the legal aid non-profit organizations Legal Services Vermont and Vermont Legal Aid organized their union, United Justice Workers-VT with AFT Vermont.
Across both organizations, staff work side by side to fight for low-income Vermonters facing civil legal problems, such as eviction, foreclosure, disability services, bankruptcy, and other legal issues commonly afflicting disadvantaged groups in Vermont.
In November, the union organizing committee at both organizations signed off on voluntary recognition agreements after over 80% of staff signed union authorization cards. Now, United Justice Workers represents all non-managerial employees at Legal Services Vermont and support staff and attorneys at Vermont Legal Aid. Several job classifications are disputed and the parties are set to bargain over their inclusion in the union.
“We organized our union because we believe we should advocate for ourselves in the same way we advocate for our clients,’’ said Devon Ayers, a nine-year employee and Advocate in the Disability Law Project.
“We look forward to working collaboratively with Legal Services Vermont and Vermont Legal Aid to bargain a fair contract that promotes employee economic stability and well-being, work-life balance, and democratic decision making,” said Kyle Clauss, Staff Attorney and member of the union organizing committee.
AFT Vermont, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, represents over 10,000 healthcare and higher education workers in Vermont.
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