Burlington, VT
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| UE Local 267 Negotiating Committee: From left, front row: David Hamilton, vice president; Carmyn Stanko, president; and Nancy Blow, steward. Standing in the back are (from l to r): Mark Gregoire; Paul Woodman, chief steward; Dave Barch, chief steward; UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley; Brec Norton; Tim Maple, recording secretary. Kingsley joined the committee during some bargaining sessions. |
About 350 service and maintenance workers at the University of Vermont (UVM), members of UE Local 267, have voted to approve a new two year contract with the University following a tough set of negotiations.
The ratification vote was held after a marathon bargaining session ended with a tentative agreement on October 19. A federal mediator assisted with the bargaining after impasse had been declared earlier in the month.
Under the terms of the new agreement, service and maintenance workers will receive a two percent wage increase retroactive to July 1, 2009.
The agreement provides for an additional two percent wage increase in the second year (effective July 1, 2010) unless the university awards a larger wage increase to its non-unionized employees. If UVM awards a higher "pool" increase to its non-union staff, then the unionized service and maintenance workers will receive that higher percentage. Under no circumstances, however, will the unionized workers receive less than two percent in 2010.
The new agreement also protects employees’ health insurance and retirement benefits, and the union announced that there were no concessions given under the new agreement. The union was also able to protect the rights of senior employee to remain at the University in the event of a future layoff.
Improvements were made in the areas of bereavement leave, on-call and call-in procedures, union security and in the ability of non-English speaking employees to access English language courses.
"This was the toughest contract we’ve had to bargain in years," said Local 267 president, Carmyn Stanko, “But I believe we were able to bargain the best contract possible under the current economic circumstances.
In additional to Pres. Stanko, the UE Local 267 negotiating committee consisted of Vice Pres. David Hamilton, Recording Secretary Tim Maple, Chief Stewards Paul Woodman and Dave Barch, Steward Nancy Blow, Mark Gregoire and Brec Norton. They were assisted by UE International Representative Kimberly Lawson.
The new agreement will expire June 30, 2011.