Yesterday I offered some pointed commentary (“idiots” rolled out of my Blogger’s Thesaurus) about the off-again, on-again firing of VSEA chief Mark Mitchell. Well, today brings another life lesson in Why Public Sector Employees Have Such a Bad Reputation.
To wit, the hothouse flowers who work for the Agency of Education, who are all upset over the Agency’s pending move to downtown Barre. Per Terri Hallenbeck of the Freeploid, some Agency staffers are worried about CRIME!!!!! and possible environmental contamination.
Okay, yes, there’s crime in Barre. But we’re not exactly talking Hell’s Kitchen here. And as for environmental contamination, well, it’s a NEW BUILDING which will presumably meet current safety standards.
C’mon, people. This is the kind of thing that gives public-sector employees a bad name. If you’re complaining about a steady, union-protected, nine-to-five job in Barre, then, well, a lot of people are going to think you’re pampered little lapdogs. And they’re going to resent the taxes that pay your salaries.
I dunno sounds pretty reasonable.
And Michael Obuchowski, commissioner of Buildings and General Services, said.
He sounds straightforward and reasonable
But the landlord er,eh Mayor of Barre sounds pretty dismissive
Gosh JV, somebody throw yer undies in the dryer so they shrunk? or are you just jealous that you don’t have a state job with a defined-benefit pension attached?
A number of state employees assigned to a brand new building purpose-constructed for them in Bennington came down with sarcoidosis, and the building had to be abandoned.
I’d say that warrants some concern about environmental conditions in a building erected on brownfields formerly occupied by a dry cleaner, fuel storage and manufacturing, not exactly clean and green operations.
Oh, but “All indications are that that work should make the building safe,” says Lynda Provencher of the DEC. Okay, then, let’s have state employees who just want to do their jobs bet their lives and health on that “should” be “safe.”
What makes you think Mayor Lauzon’s word about remediation is to be trusted? Or his dismissal of employees’ concern? When did you decide to accept his word, despite his obvious agenda?
C’mon JV, you’re usually better than this.
NanuqFC
It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Actually JV, it seems to me that YOU are the one giving public employees a bad name by playing into the hands of the right wing mantra that public employees are pampered public enemies. Why on earth, as a political progressive, would you ridicule working people (“hothouse flowers”) who dare to ask questions about their work place safety? Are we in a race to the bottom? I hope not. I hope that when one group of workers attempts to advocate on their own behalf that it serves to encourage and empower other workers to stick up for themselves as well. All workers should insist that we not be simply hapless pawns at the whim of our employers’ decisions.
Perhaps it will turn out that the building site is safe, and that concerns about parking lot safety are unfounded. Perhaps not. But the important point here is that workers have a right to ask questions and that workers should have a meaningful seat at the table when decisions are being made about their working lives. That’s why I’m a union member, and that’s why I wish for (and work for) the day when all workers have the opportunity to be union members.
Shame on you, J. Walters, for this condescending and unnecessary editorial review of a an informational meeting that is at the core of what union’s ought to be standing for. If you respect the work and integrity of state workers, value unions as a mechanism to make workers’ voices heard, and uphold transparency as an important part of decision making, here’s what you would have written regarding state workers recent meetings with BGS:
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Despite a week of bad headlines and internal distraction, the VSEA is still working to elevate the voices and concerns of state employees as important decision are made about their working conditions. As reported by Terry Hallenbeck at the BFP, members of the VSEA met with state officials and local barre city officials to engage in an open dialogue about the AOE move from Montpelier to Barre.
The state’s most recent office space move to National Life was less than perfect- the state wound up spending millions over early projections and many employees have reported that the facility is designed ineffectively. The VSEA has opened up talks with the administration and Barre city officials to avoid similar missteps this time around.
For a list of all of the concerns raised by state workers, read the BFP article. The important take away here is that the VSEA is continuing to do the work that unions should be doing- taking on issues that matter to employees and creating space in state bureaucracies for input from the folks doing the work on the ground level. Great work to the VSEA members in the Agency of Education who are staying focused on their union’s mission throughout internal distractions and engaging in important dialogue through their union.
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JV, I hope you issue an apology to those state workers who you trivialized and invalidated when you wrote this opinion piece. Whether their concerns are founded or not (and you are certainly free to debate the validly of the concerns), you ought to support their right to engage in decision-making processes in a respectful and collaborative way. You ought to commend them for being dedicated union members, and thank them for the many times they have used their voices in similar formats (at the state house, in their greater communities) to ensure that our state is run effectively and with the benefit of all Vermonters in mind.
Y’know, I used to always write the “why-is-our-side-painting-big-targets-on-their-heads” and “we-have-to-be-smarter-than-that” diaries. They would annoy people, sure, but this fire and brimstone you’re receiving, John, is pretty amazing. Methinks you hit a nerve.
Well,
worrying about crime while parking your car when working in the new building in Barre is a little weird.
I have parked my car in Barre for many years (not continuously~ mind you) and never had a problem.
I find it healthy to question if the new building is a safe environment.
It should be easy to scientifically check if the air is clean.
Belittling people who question it is not okay.
.
Oh, the amusing hypocrisy of Lib-er-als putting down Unions now. It is now ‘elitist’ for workers in a union to voice concerns about their job sites? And some of you folks are the same people who post stuff about how awful workers are treated by WalMart and McDonald’s. Sigh.
Shumlin loves ya. WalMart loves ya. When you diss the Work that Unions are MEANT TO DO, who does that benefit? Or, are you just trying to be cleverly egocentric? Or, worse, are you honestly saying that Union workers should…what?…stop being annoying, because…what?…there are BIGGER ISSUES they should be concerned with? More PC. “Stop it, Unions, we’re trying to get more Dems elected next year. Yeah. Like Obama. Whose cyber goons read this stuff and send it straight to the BOARD ROOM. And the BOARD says: “Great! The Lib-er-als are helping us bash Unions. Our strategy is working. We’re going to win the war. They’re fighting for us on the front lines. Hey, now we can cut some payroll and fire some asses and the Libs will probably blame it on the Unions.”
Nice. How tiresome becomes the ongoing quest of the Politically Correct Lib-er-al to ‘meet with the approval’ of the TYRANT. No doubt, the TYRANT has told the Lib-er-al: “Keep it up. Things will get better. For you. Maybe. Well, probably not. But keep it up. We love ya. Here’s a HUG.”
SHIT!
this certainly was a thread that took flight… erratic but sustained nonetheless… The point that needs to be absorbed about the Barre site is the same point that needed to be addressed at the court house in Bennington, some of the buildings at Brandon (remember those), people who worked in the basements of the state complex at Waterbury (pre flood issues by a decade), the folks who worked above the bomb testing site on state street, and FINALLY, the brand spanking new Chittenden Bank Building directly across from the halls of ultimate justice!!
Given the option of placing employees into an untested – or even tested and funky – building or worksite with out regard for ramifications–they will!!! Employees have a long history of questionable practice to look back upon and warrant suspicion. The Chittenden building is STILL responsible for people who developed such significant environmental reaction to “no one still knows what” that they are still out on disability retirement to this day. ONE of the issues turned out to be that the contractor had failed to take the caps off of the fresh air mixer on the roof (a year or so after problems began to arise) and this was after the windows (tomb like non opening) were replaced and the copier machines were removed to try to get the crap out of the air. The same thing happened to some feds in the whitecaps building in Williston-where fiberglass and resin were turned into downhill skis for a couple of decades.
Repurposing a building involves much more than just planting a few flowers and putting in skylights. Indeed, something as fundamental as the ground things are built upon must be taken into consideration. ISNT that why we do Radon remediation ? VOCs have the ability to hang around and vent from the soil for a long time…
For some reason a rant on the LOVE CANAL seems appropriate, but naaaa.
Nothing to do with the PR calamity produced by the Director issue or anything else, the members of the state workforce need to look out for themselves.
In Bennington, the employees rejected a downtown relocation, in part because the location had been classified as a “brownfield”, meaning contamination of some kind (not a scientist). Concern about the label is not unprecedented or something to dismiss out of hand. Just saying. Actually, what does Risk Management think?