UA Vice-President John Forbes spoke in support of the VSEA petition to the Vermont Labor Board.
“It is time for the staff to organize and have a say in their own working conditions the way United Academics and the United Electrical Workers, the Nurses and the Bus Drivers do. When we sit down across the bargaining table with the UVM Administration to negotiate the terms of our employment, the Administration has to care because we formed a Union and they are required to care. They may not like it and I’m pretty sure they don’t, but about that, guess what – We Don’t Care! Our rights to have a say in our employment are guaranteed
United Academics’ full-time faculty, along with the United Electrical Workers, are currently in their own fights for a fair contract. Next year, U.A.’s part-time faculty and the nurses will begin their negotiations for their own fair contracts.
We all look forward to a time, very soon we hope, when the Staff’s Union will have that same opportunity.. The opportunity to speak out for their members about salaries and benefits and working conditions, and the opportunity to negotiate a fair contract, rather than having a contract dictated to them.”
