About 800 staff members at the University of Vermont will vote on whether to join the more than 5,000 public employees in the Vermont State Employees Association.
The association represents state workers and is already representing staff members within the Vermont State Colleges system.
The UVM staffers from across the university aren't currently part of a union, though the university's faculty and some specialized staff are unionized.
Marilyn Eldred, a long time university staffer, spoke at an event announcing the group's filing with the Vermont Labor Relations Board for a vote.
"Recent changes in cost sharing, continuing restrictions in tuition remission, elimination of retirement for new employees and ongoing budget crises make me and many others nervous about the stability of our compensation and benefits," she said.
Representatives from the Teamsters union, the Vermont Workers Center, the Vermont Student Union and the university's faculty union were all present in support of the announcement. They said they hope the UVM staff will soon have representation similar to that of the faculty union in forming a contract with the university administration.
John Forbes, a UVM theater professor and member of the faculty union (United Academics), said that the faculty are in negotiations for a contract they consider fair - and that they're able to hold out on the university if they're not getting what they want.
The staff, he said, "are presented essentially with a take it or leave it proposition: 'Here's what we'll give you. If you like it, fine. If you don't like it, tough.'"
Forbes said he hopes the vote to join VSEA will succeed so staffers too can hold out for what they want in contract negotiations.
In a statement, university spokesman Enrique Corredera said the university is committed to communicating with the staff members and providing them with information to make an informed decision:
One of the most important decisions employees can make about their workplace is whether or not to participate in a bargaining unit. The University of Vermont is committed to communicating with its non-represented staff members, and providing easy access to all relevant information necessary to making informed choices about unionization in the event an election is approved. As we enter a new period in which non-unionized employees will be asked to consider union representation, questions will be raised about the pros and cons of unionization. UVM will continue to provide relevant information to employees through the Informed Choice website. Topics will include salary/wages and benefits, how unionized and non-unionized workplaces compare, and how working conditions and compensation compare between unionized and non-unionized staff at UVM.
The statement did not address multiple statements by labor activists calling on UVM not to engage in any intimidation tactics to dissuade staffers from voting to unionize. The activists didn't cite any examples of that happening in the current union drive, but the university was accused of trying to block the same group in 2007.
Another group also filed with the Vermont Labor Relations Board today with the hopes of forming a union.
Vermont’s home-based early educators made the filing after a five-year movement for the right to negotiate with the state over subsidy payments paid to the care providers by the state.
A law that took effect this year allowed for the creation of the union, which would be affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.
