The Shumlin administration and the Vermont State Employees Association have reached a tentative agreement on new two-year contracts.
The contracts, which must be ratified by union members, covers three bargaining units of the VSEA, including Corrections, Supervisory and Non-Management Units.
Under the deal, classified employees would receive a 2.5 percent “across-the-board” pay increase in July 2014 and an additional 2.5 percent in July 2015. The agreement includes enhanced dental benefits and an annualized salary minimum for the lowest paid workers.
The agreement, which won’t be released to the public until it is ratified by members after the New Year, includes changes to contract language regarding reemployment rights, reclassification of job classes and changes to improve staffing at the Vermont Veterans’ Home and “successor facilities” to the Vermont State Hospital.
The contract will “create sustainable savings and ease administrative constraints,” according to a joint press release from the Agency of Administration and VSEA.
Shelley Martin, the president of VSEA, said the union is pleased with the negotiated agreements, which she characterized as fair.
“It’s a testament to the strength of our union and the commitment of our members to work in collaboration with the Shumlin administration to ensure that Vermonters are benefiting from our members’ collective expertise,” Martin said in a statement. “VSEA members are committed to ensuring Vermont government is good government and believe these tentative agreements reflect that.”
Jeb Spaulding, the secretary of the Agency of Administration, was pleased that the two parties were able to come to a negotiated agreement and “avoid a protracted dispute.”
“Our state workforce delivers important services for all of us day in and day out,” Spaulding said. “These contracts provide reasonable compensation for that hard work in line with other public sector contract agreements, while providing all our union workers and managers some increased predictability, flexibility and clarity through the contract changes agreed to by VSEA. They also reflect the fiscal constraints facing Vermont taxpayers and our commitment to maintain fiscal discipline.”
It’s the second time since Gov. Peter Shumlin took office in 2011 that the state and the union have successfully, and without rancor, agreed to new contracts.
In December 2011, the Shumlin administration and VSEA agreed to 2 percent annual increases for 2012 and 2013. As part of those negotiations, a 3 percent pay cut instituted in 2011 was restored to state workers. “Step” increases, which had been frozen, resumed in July 2012.
