Vermont
University of Vermont staff members win their 1st union contract
Up to date at 4:17 p.m.
Dozens of College of Vermont workers gathered close to UVM’s Waterman constructing Friday to rejoice ratification of UVM’s Workers United’s first-ever union contract. The three-year settlement takes impact instantly.
The contract handed with the help of 98% of voting union members, based on union leaders, one week after a tentative settlement was reached between the bargaining union and UVM’s administration. Ellen Kaye, co-lead negotiator of the union’s bargaining staff and a cataloger at Howe Library, stated the vote was 792-14.
The union’s high priorities within the contract included pay and profession development.
“We’re right here celebrating the fruits of a multiyear battle for livable wages, justice and fairness on the UVM campus,” Kaye advised the gang.
The union received raises retroactive to July 2021, with the again pay to be delivered to workers in lump sums. The bottom-paid workers members will obtain the very best proportion pay will increase over three years: 37.9%. Highest-paid workers will obtain 10% will increase.
The UVM Workers United contract stipulates a everlasting increase for all workers members of no less than $3,500. It additionally ensures all members will earn no less than $20 per hour, the minimal the union considers a “livable wage” for the area.
UVM Workers United represents 1,350 clerical, technical, specialised {and professional} workers on the college. Methods and upkeep workers are unionized in UE Native 267, however their union has not been in a position to negotiate the identical deal as UVM Workers United.
Roughly 257 service and upkeep workers at UVM nonetheless don’t make $20 an hour, Kaye stated. UVM Workers United goals to help them by their union and hopes to boost the ground to $20 per hour as quickly as doable.
“Is our battle over?” Kaye requested. The group responded to Kaye with a convincing no.
“We anticipate that extra employees in our neighborhood will begin demanding their rights to livable wages as properly, and after they do, we may have their backs,” Kaye stated. “We additionally hope that this units a brand new customary for our neighborhood.”
Till now, UVM had no obligation to award workers raises and the minimal wage was $14 per hour.
The contract additionally ensures eight weeks of paid parental depart, a $250,000 skilled growth fund, Juneteenth as a paid vacation, home associate eligibility for advantages, and a union sick financial institution with as much as 5 days of paid break day obtainable for donation yearly — none of which existed prior.
Amongst different protections, the contract outlines a system for self-discipline and discharge. Beforehand, workers members have been thought-about at-will workers. The contract prevents unilateral administrative self-discipline and discharge, outlining a course of that features illustration in disciplinary instances. It additionally units processes for contract violation grievances.
“We don’t get what we ask for from our employers; we get what now we have the facility to take,” stated Sophie Kogut, a UVM graduate who’s a member of UVM Workers United. “I’m so proud to be an energetic member of our union, realizing that, collectively, we fought tirelessly for the lowest-paid employees at UVM.”
When Kogut took a job doing biomedical analysis at UVM, following her commencement in 2020, she was making $30,500 a 12 months. By the ultimate 12 months of this union contract, she can be incomes $41,375.
Maria Avery, a library help senior at Howe Library, stated she was thrilled that the contract was ratified. Avery has labored at UVM for almost 4 years, however stated that, for a lot of that point, she was both working a second job or actively in search of one.
“I used to be within the meals service business previous to the pandemic, after which misplaced that second part-time job, and since then have accomplished babysitting and simply type of pieced collectively some further funds right here and there,” she stated. “However to have the ability to work one job and spend my off time prioritizing myself and my household goes to be an enormous aid.”
Avery can be relieved to have the ability to afford snow tires for her automobile, amongst different issues.
“Everyone knows what winters in Vermont are like; they don’t seem to be not all the time that enjoyable, and to really feel like you do not have the funds to have the ability to do that’s fairly demoralizing,” she stated. “Some joyful issues too — I am getting married within the fall and to have these funds, some further cushion and suppleness and a marriage funds, that is nothing to shake your head at both.”
Over the past a number of months, the union drew a whole lot of members on Zoom at bargaining periods, organized marches and rallies, despatched greater than 500 letters to the board of trustees, and engaged in quite a lot of different efforts to deliver consideration to their trigger. Union members additionally met with Vermont’s two U.S. senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, the latter of whom issued a press release supporting the marketing campaign for a contract.
“Over this previous week, as we met with workers, now we have heard many individuals ask, how did this occur? How did administration come round? Effectively, this wasn’t an accident,” stated Rachel Wallace-Brodeur, co-lead negotiator of the union bargaining staff who works in pediatrics. “For a few years, together with the final 4 with the present administration, workers have been an afterthought, meager raises and no respect. Then we organized our union.”
Richard Cate, vice chairman for finance and administration, stated UVM was in search of a good settlement with UVM Workers United all through the bargaining course of, based on a press launch issued Friday by UVM spokesperson Enrique Corredera.
“The contract displays UVM’s dedication to offering aggressive wage and advantages, and a very good working surroundings for all workers, whereas on the similar time reinforcing our dedication to college students by offering a high-quality instructional expertise that’s financially accessible and reasonably priced,” Cate stated.
UVM provides its workers aggressive salaries and high-quality medical insurance, with worker contributions scaled to earnings, based on the press launch. The college additionally pays 10% of annual wage into retirement funds for eligible workers, has an award-winning worker wellness program, provides free UVM tuition for workers and their dependents, and contributes towards dental and long-term incapacity plans, college officers stated within the launch.
UVM Workers United leaders stated they’re nonetheless formatting the contract itself and plans to make the doc publicly obtainable within the coming weeks.
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This commentary is by Peter Langella of Moretown, a public high school and college educator.
Imagine that education in Vermont is a game of chess.
Over the years, many pieces have been taken away from the board. Student enrollment has declined, but there has also been a steady stream of cuts and consolidations, spiking during Act 46 mergers and now again over the past two years.
Conversely, many other pieces have been added that don’t mesh with the original rules of the game. This is because the United States (and Vermont, under Gov. Scott and his vetoes) has rejected many social foundations and safety nets; and schools, admirably, have often tried to fill the gap by employing special educators, social workers, psychologists, intensive paraeducators, behavior interventionists and a plethora of other important and helpful humans.
So when legislators and bureaucrats talk about “right-sizing,” they are mostly trying to play a conventional game of educational chess based on Carnegie Units, the metric developed in 1906 that awards academic credit based on the number of “seat time” hours in a given course, especially at the high school level. This is the “Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic” model many of today’s decision-makers experienced as students.
Simply put, it’s stagnant, outdated and inequitable.
So, Vermont has a choice. We can react to this education funding crisis by further cutting and consolidating, trying to put all the pieces back the way they were and play chess by the original rules, or we can flip the board over and play a new game — completely transforming our model of public education.
READ MORE
Public schools in Vermont must become more personalized and community-based, partnering with local organizations for experiential and service-driven learning. Schools must think about what it means to be a compassionate human in our modern world and appropriately backward-design curricula to grow young people to meet that challenge. Schools must be interdisciplinary, creating a fusion of conventional academics with the arts, outdoor education, and sustainability. Schools must center inclusion and intersectionality, striving to represent, honor, and affirm all learners in a way that shares power. And, schools must value the whole student, concentrating on physical, social and emotional well-being above all other metrics.
The possibilities abound. We have so many creative and empathetic people here. We also have so many amazing students, who are truly our resident experts on what school is and what it can be.
We could harness that, but we aren’t, at least not at a statewide level. For example, the Commission on the Future of Public Education, by statute, was supposed to “represent the State’s geographic, gender, racial, and ethnic diversity,” and it knows it failed on multiple levels of its most basic charge. There also aren’t any current educators or school employees who are part of the group, and there are no students, who repeatedly lack power, access and representation in official spaces where their future is being decided, especially when they come from marginalized backgrounds.
On a more micro level, this isn’t happening in most districts or schools, either. Like many around the state, the district I work in had its budget defeated last year. The school board moved quickly to adopt a new number, and district and building administrators were tasked with identifying cuts.
Instead of having a more transformational conversation, they cut librarians, drama teachers, music teachers, business teachers, French teachers, personalized learning coordinators, restorative practices coordinators, mentoring coordinators, instructional coaches, intensive paraeducators and JV sports programs.
It was and is horrendous.
Imagine something better. Imagine flipping that chessboard over and looking at an open canvas. Before talking about tax rates, yield bills and common levels of appraisal; imagine centering teaching and learning. Imagine a visioning process where we, all of us, collectively redefine what school can be.
I’m not naive enough to think it would fit my exact hopes, and I’m not idealistic enough to think it wouldn’t include some cuts and consolidations. But at least it would be intentional.
The current narrative around this crisis is reactionary. The state is trying to force its way back to the chessboard, and it’s being falsely portrayed as the harder choice.
The harder choice, in actuality, is to transform. Create a bold vision and initiate a brand new game of school — creative, holistic, inclusive — that could serve as an example for the entire country.
The 2024-2025 Vermont high school winter season has begun. See below for scores, schedules and game details (statistical leaders, game notes) from basketball, hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, Nordic/Alpine skiing and other winter sports.
TO REPORT SCORES
Coaches or team representatives are asked to report results ASAP after games by emailing sports@burlingtonfreepress.com. Please submit with a name/contact number.
►Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter:@aabrami5.
►Contact Judith Altneu at jaltneu@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
TUESDAY’S H.S. GAMES
Girls basketball
Burlington 68, Champlain Valley 59
B: Bree McDonald 24 points. Nylah Mitchell 20 points. Atika Haji 16 points.
C: Zoey McNabb 23 points. Kaitlyn Jovell 10 points.
Note: Burlington defeated CVU for the first time since Feb. 17, 2012.
Oxbow 64, Peoples 33
O: Braylee Phelps 24 points. Maggi Ellsworth 15 points.
P: Daisy Berg 13 points. Sophie Beck 11 points.
Note: Phelps made five 3-pointers to lead Oxbow, which led 40-16 at the break.
Harwood 44, Lyndon 34
H: Eloise Lilley 14 points. Maddie Ryley 9 points. Kendra Rocheleau 8 rebounds. Adelaide Chalmers 5 rebounds. Roanha Chalmers 5 rebounds.
L: Ella Marshia 15 points.
Note: Harwood led 25-17 at the break and 24-29 through three quarters before pulling away for the road win.
Winooski 36, BFA-Fairfax 31
W: Ashlyn Parris 9 points. Taraji Bradley 8 points.
F: Anna Villeneuve 16 points.
Note: Winooski opened a 26-7 halftime lead.
Windsor 58, Lake Region 18
W: Sophia Rockwood 20 points. Amelia Rockwood 14 points. Audrey Rupp 8 points.
North Country 64, Spaulding 27
NC: Sabine Brueck 20 points. Ava Patten 10 points. Addie Nelson 10 points. Marlow Maxwell 9 points.
S: Taylor Keel 9 points.
Lamoille 60, U-32 34
L: Alyssa Small 17 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists. Evie Pirie 10 points. Ava Baisley 9 points. Maddex Percey 8 points. Alana Crittenden 7 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds.
U: Paige Parker 14 points. Clara Wilson 12 points.
Twinfield/Cabot 60, Northfield 35
T/C: Kendall Fowler 16 points. Jorja Washburn 12 points. Carly Mancini 11 points.
Williamstown 58, Danville 52
W: Julia French 20 points, 5 steals. Natalie Beliveau 15 points, 15 rebounds. Hannah Spencer 14 points. Courtney Beliveau 8 points, 5 rebounds.
D: Myah Morgan 15 points. Lauren Joncas 15 points.
Rutland 46, South Burlington 28
R: Brinley Gandin 18 points. Lanza Bellomo 9 points.
SB: Lexi Paquette 18 points.
Montpelier 49, Woodstock 42 (OT)
Randolph 47, Thetford 41
Stowe at Richford
Enosburg at Hazen, ppd.
Boys basketball
Rice 78, St. Johnsbury 56
R: Owen Eaton 22 points. Dallas St. Peter 21 points. Evan Eaton 16 points.
SJ: Rex Hauser 23 points. Michael Rodriguez Guerrero 12 points. Will Eaton 8 points.
Note: Owen Eaton drained five 3-pointers for Rice, which led 38-19 at the break.
South Burlington 76, Milton 29
SB: Deng Aguek 22 points. Oli Avdibegovic 14 points. Paul Comba 13 points. Kai Davidson 10 points.
M: Keegan Fitzgerald 7 points. Carter McGregor 7 points.
Note: Host South Burlington led 24-6 after the first quarter and 41-14 at the break.
Champlain Valley 60, Essex 36
CV: Owen Scott 21 points, 3 assists. Luke Allen 10 points, 9 rebounds.
Burlington 93, BFA-St. Albans 48
BHS: Abdi Sharif 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals. Pascal Munezero 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals.
BFA: Gabe Howrigan 19 points. Ryan Munger 11 points.
Note: Host BHS (6-0) raced to a 51-24 halftime lead.
Woodstock 61, Brattleboro 52
W: Elvis Lavallee 18 points. Caleb Sammel 17 points. Caeden Perreault 10 points.
B: John Satterfield 18 points. Oscar Korson 14 points. Jack Cady 10 points.
Colchester at Mount Mansfield
WEDNESDAY’S H.S. GAMES
Boys basketball
Games at 7 p.m unless noted
Williamstown at BFA-Fairfax
Fair Haven at Middlebury
Winooski at Richford
Lyndon at Montpelier
Lamoille at U-32
Lake Region at Hazen
Thetford at Peoples
Randolph at Mount Abraham
Twinfield/Cabot at Danville, 7:30 p.m.
Girls basketball
Games at 7 p.m unless noted
BFA-St. Albans at Missisquoi
Essex at Colchester
Rice at Burr and Burton
Boys hockey
Burr and Burton at Colchester, 4:30 p.m.
Woodstock at Harwood, 5 p.m.
Hartford at Rice, 5:25 p.m.
Milton at St. Johnsbury, 6 p.m.
Stowe vs North Country at Jay Peak, 6 p.m.
Middlebury at Burlington, 7 p.m.
U-32 at Brattleboro, 7:15 p.m.
BFA-St. Albans at South Burlington, 5:15 p.m.
Essex at Champlain Valley, 7:40 p.m.
Missisquoi at Mount Mansfield, 8 p.m.
Girls hockey
Kingdom Blades at Middlebury, 5 p.m.
Woodstock at Spaulding, 5:15 p.m.
Stowe at Hartford, 5:45 p.m.
Champlain Valley/Mount Mansfield at Essex, 6 p.m.
Burlington/Colchester at BFA-St. Albans, 7 p.m.
U-32 at Missisquoi, 7:15 p.m.
Wrestling
Champlain Valley, St. Johnsbury at Essex, 6 p.m.
(Subject to change)
Take a Bow
Saturday 11
New York City’s DragonBoot Quartet bring compelling string compositions to Waterbury Congregational Church for an afternoon of nimble musicianship. The vibrant foursome — all current students of the Juilliard School — plays familiar favorites by Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as well as contemporary works by American composer and Pulitzer laureate Caroline Shaw.
Best Rest
Wednesday 15
Girls’ Night Out With Beth Kruger at the Essex Resort & Spa invites women over 40 to step into the New Year seeking balance, harmony and a bit of self-care. The event kicks off with a refreshing spa experience — including use of the sauna, hot tub and steam room — followed by refreshments around the fireplace and a deep dive into Kruger’s “Menopause Toolkit.”
Finding Their Footing
Saturday 11
The Marble Valley Dance Collective captivates audience members with New Dances Dawning, staged at Vermont State University’s Casella Theater in Castleton. Eighteen dancers from the state’s southwest region evoke a sense of unbridled joy, community and belonging through movement — emphasizing the nonprofit’s mission of forging deep connections through dance.
Clap Your Hands
Saturday 11
Prolific local songwriter Matt Hagen takes center stage for Burlington’s FlynnZone Kids Hour — a monthly performance series in the Flynn lobby designed for wee ones ages 3 to 5. Through musical improvisation, Hagen leads kiddos and their caregivers in interactive, playful songs built to foster imagination, make memories and introduce children to the arts.
Ski Ya There
Saturday 11
Sleepy Hollow Inn’s Full Moon Ski Party in Huntington invites snow sports enthusiasts of all ages and abilities to ski beneath the milky twilight and snowshoe out on the moonlit floor. The event opens with a free ski lesson, followed by folks taking to the trails with headlamps — or opting for the 1K lighted loop. The adventure concludes with music, hot drinks and treats by the fire.
Dynamic Duo
Saturday 11
Boston juke-joint revival band the Smack Dabs and virtuosic New England foursome Rhythm Future Quartet light up the night with a soulful double bill at Next Stage Arts in Putney. Audience members get groovy with the former’s 1930s good-time swing blues and the latter’s hot-club jazz tunes (think Django Reinhardt) — an energy so contagious, listeners can’t help but tap a toe.
Swiss Scapes
Ongoing
Acclaimed German artist Thomas Struth‘s exhibition of large-scale color photographs at Hall Art Foundation in Reading showcases the rural landscapes of Northern Switzerland. Struth’s soft, unidealized shots were taken in the early 1990s and began as a commissioned project for a private hospital in Winterthur — the works serving as a portal for patients to the outside world.
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