http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
Costco, Starbucks and Whole Foods jointly issued ways to tweak the Employee Free Choice Act. Yet again big business proclaims that the EFCA would allow those dreaded unions to massacre successful corporations. Of the three, only Costco has a substantial amount of employees that are actually unionized. Their spokesman is Lanny Davis, a self-proclaimed pro-labor liberal.
An article from Sunday’s Washington Post is linked above.
Following up on recent discussions at GMD about buying locally, responsible contracting and stimulus projects going to low-bid, out-of-state businesses, Jon Margolis wrote a great article about employee misclassification in the construction industry:
http://www.vermontnewsguy.com/…
He also weaves in what this has to do with the University of Vermont’s James Jeffords Hall. This is a startling example of public dollars going into the pocket of a contractor with an extremely suspect reputation.
Check Jon’s piece out if you haven’t already.
To my knowledge, Seven Days’ Shay Totten was the only mainstream Vermont journalist to report on former Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont CEO William Milnes’ $6.3 million “golden parachute.”
Mr. Milnes’ total compensation was $7.25 million in salary, bonuses and retirement cash. He retired at the end of 2008.
How is this justifiable in the midst of the current healthcare crisis? Shay’s column is linked below:
Just wanted to pass along this info to those of use who are out of work. This event is brought to you by the Lake Champlain Region Workforce Investment Board.
—
FREE – Reinvent Yourself!
Date: 3/23/2009
Time: 9:30 AM TO 3:30 PM
Place: Sheraton Burlington Conference Center
EVENT DESCRIPTION
Conference is a FREE event targeting displaced workers and adult workers in transition. Our goal is to assist attendees with identifying their transferable skills, convey information about career opportunities and skills needed in growing sectors, and provide the education and training resources to pursue new opportunities.
The conference will feature workshops designed to help participants identify transferable skills,
pursue training and education, and obtain related financial aid. There will be numerous education
and training providers on hand to provide resources and one-on-one meeting time with attendees.
> Healthcare
> Construction
> Manufacturing
> Telecommunications
> Bio-Science
> Green Industry
> I.T.
EVENT DETAILS
1/2 hour Training Workshops:
9:30 & 12:30 – Guerilla Warfare in the Job Market
10:30 & 1:30 – How to Go Back to School
11:30 & 2:30 – Dept of Labor’s R.E.T.R.A.I.N
15 minute Industry Presentations with Q & A:
10:00 & 1:00 – IT and Green Industry
10:45 & 1:45 – Health Care & Bio-Science
11:30 & 2:30 – Manufacturing, Telecommunication & Construction
More info? Contact Lisa Quinlan at 802.863.3489, ext. 221, or quinlan@vermont.org.
(This is a really good catch. Thanks for posting it. – promoted by JulieWaters)
http://www.wcax.com/Global/sto…
Yesterday, the guv dropped the shovel on Vermont’s first federal stimulus construction project, a bridge repair in Richmond. The WCAX piece linked above left out that the general contractor, T. Buck Construction, is headquartered in Auburn, Maine.
Call me a protectionist, but is anyone else disappointed our first stimulus job didn’t go to a Vermont company? And, is anyone else equally disappointed that WCAX neglected to mention anything about WHO will be doing the work?
Hopefully, T. Buck will at least put some Vermonters to work instead of importing labor.
( – promoted by odum)
Below is an article from today’s Burlington Free Press. Fletcher Allen management is clearly worried that employees are banding together to improve their working conditions. Anyone who has been subjected to the so-called “other side of the story” by management knows how nasty – not to mention inaccurate – it can get.
Workers looking to organize are often pressured and subjected to captive audience meetings and anti-union literature, in hopes they will turn against the union. It is because of this that we must pass the Employee Free Choice under President Obama. I urge the Green Mountain Daily community to familiarize themselves with this legislation if they haven’t already:
http://www.americanrightsatwor…
http://www.aflcio.org/joinauni…
————-
Workers at hospital consider union
By Matt Sutkoski, Free Press Staff Writer
A group of technical health care employees who are considering joining a union at Fletcher Allen Health Care said Wednesday that management is pressuring them against joining the collective bargaining unit.
Hospital officials deny the charge.
(Note from odum – Click here for the complete article… diarists please remember we can only excerpt from published articles and link to the full piece, we cannot copy them in toto, as that’s a copyright violation)
The following letter appeared in today’s Rutland Herald and warrants discussion. I am a huge fan of the iPhone, but it’s important we don’t lose track of what’s below the surface here. Kudos to Ralph Montefusco for submitting a letter.
Workers may get a break
The recent announcement that AT&T will be taking over Unicel’s wireless service in Vermont is good news for all of us. Of course, many people are excited about the prospect of getting an iPhone, but much more is at stake here. Having a viable alternative to Verizon’s wireless service also means that Vermonters can finally let Verizon know how they feel about the ill-advised sale of our land lines to FairPoint.
It’s not FairPoint’s fault, but a recent study by the Communications Workers of America showed that Vermont is falling further behind the rest of the country in terms of access to quality Internet service (see www.speedmatters.org). That is because Verizon began to abandon Vermont long before the sale to Fairpoint was announced, leaving us on the information superhighway’s dirt road to nowhere.
In Verizon’s wireless division, thousands of employees want the benefits and protections of a union contract, but management has aggressively interfered in their efforts. It has used surveillance, threats, coercion, even office closures, to block attempts by workers to form unions. Retaliation against union supporters has led to unfair labor practice complaints by the National Labor Relations Board.
In contrast, more than 40,000 AT&T workers have taken advantage of the company’s policy of remaining neutral in organizing drives. When a majority of workers in a location sign up to join the union, AT&T voluntarily recognizes their union.
At long last, Vermonters have a real alternative to Verizon. Let’s use our purchasing power to switch off Verizon, just like it switched off Vermont!
RALPH J. MONTEFUSCO
(Communications Workers of America)
Burlington
( – promoted by odum)
A follow-up to BP’s diary from January 2 (“Burlington Free Press: Does the full Hoover for Douglas”).
Particular attention grabbers – Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce Tom Torti calls for elimination of the Departments of Labor and Economic Development, as well as a tax decrease for the wealthiest one percent.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress…
Jon Margolis sums it up on his terrific blog, Vermont News Guy:
http://www.vermontnewsguy.com/…
The Freeps has certainly met its Republican-esque, free market, the-rich-are-getting-screwed quota for the week.
(I’m thinking this qualifies as pt 2 of my buy local comments. Thanks for posting it! – promoted by JulieWaters)
I just read Julie Waters’ posting on Green Mountain Daily entitled “How Vermont can improve its infrastructure and economy part 1: locality, locality, locality,” and wanted to bring everyone up to speed with some similar issues. State government should definitely lead by example, even going beyond food to include other services that the State contracts out for. Citizens have been pushing State leaders to introduce responsible contracting legislation during the upcoming session. A legislative-level Workers Comp Misclassification and Fraud Enforcement Task Force, chaired by Rep. Warren Kitzmiller, is currently meeting monthly. Too often, public money supports contractors that cheat the system, whether it be by paying sub par wages, offering no health insurance or retirement benefits, misclassifying and miscoding employees, ignoring safety and environmental best practices or rampantly using independent contractors to reduce financial burdens.
Three examples I’m aware of:
— There is currently a $10 million construction project at Lyndon State College; several of the contractors working on that job are based in New Hampshire, including general contractor H.P. Cummings. Of course, LSC is located near the Vermont-New Hampshire border. But, when dealing with State agencies and public institutions, preference should be given to responsible Vermont contractors that employ predominately Vermonters. There are many Vermont construction laborers/contractors looking for gainful employment, so I hate to see state college work going to our friends from New Hampshire in this time or dire need.
— The University of Vermont recently broke ground on James M. Jeffords Hall, a project that involves $3 million secured by Sen. Patrick Leahy. UVM is an affiliate of the State of Vermont and receives public money each year. It has come to light that a questionable drywall subcontractor from New Hampshire, Kal-Vin Construction, is slotted for this job. Kal-Vin is the same outfit that allegedly employed undocumented workers on the Lowe’s project in Essex; the same ownership group was also just nailed by the U.S. Department of Labor in New Hampshire for repeated violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions. Both UVM and the general contractor, DEW Construction, have not verified that Kal-Vin will be working on Jeffords Hall; however, it has been confirmed from several competitors who also bid the job that this is the case. Apparently, Kal-Vin worked on the University Heights residence halls at UVM, too.
(Please contact UVM President Daniel Fogel and demand that his administration look into this troubling situation and, if necessary, remove seemingly irresponsible contractors from campus. CONTACT INFO: 802-656-7878 or Daniel.Fogel@uvm.edu.)
— The State of Vermont recently awarded a delivery service contract to FedEx. Contrary to popular belief, most people who work for FedEx’s Ground and Home Delivery subsidiaries are not FedEx employees. Before starting work, these drivers sign “Operating Agreements” that identify them as independent contractors. FedEx’s “independent contractors” shoulder many expenses that an employer typically covers, including truck maintenance, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and other payroll withholding responsibilities. There have been several court cases surrounding employment practices by FedEx. FedEx has also exhibited blatantly anti-union, anti-worker tactics. For more background info, please see this synopsis of the FedEx debacle:
http://www.americanrightsatwor…
It is inappropriate for public dollars to support businesses whose ethics are in question. Unfortunately, we’re seeing it happen at the federal and state levels, as well as at our public colleges and universities. Whether purchasing food, construction or shipping services, it is crucial that public institutions buy responsibly – period. We definitely need broader support from all political perspectives to make it happen. With the current recession, the time for action is now. In addition, this is an important discussion to have if a federal economic bailout comes to fruition, so we can be assured that the massive amounts of money expected to be doled out go to ethical businesses that actually want to improve the lives of American workers.