Requiring the vaccination of corrections officers, and what to do if they refuse, is a matter of negotiation.
The news comes as two corrections workers at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport have recently tested positive for Covid-19.
Gov. Phil Scott said at a press conference earlier this month that the state planned to begin requiring state employees in certain institutions to get vaccinated or face additional restrictions.
That mandate, according to the governor, would apply to prisons, the state-run Vermont Veterans Home and state-owned psychiatric facilities.
But, it hasn’t happened yet in the correctional system.
Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees’ Association, the union representing the state’s correctional officers, said Monday that it is an issue for negotiation.
“As I understand it, it is not a mandatory vaccination,” Howard said of the governor’s plan. “You have to show proof of vaccination or be subject to biweekly testing and masking — you have to wear a mask — so it’s a little bit different than mandatory.”
“You don’t have to get the vaccine if you don’t want to,” he said. “You just have to submit to the testing and the masking.”
He said the union sent the Scott administration a “Demand to Bargain” notice, as the governor’s plan represented a change in the working conditions.
“They have to come and bargain the impact of it with us, and in 45 days can implement the policy, but because it’s a change in working conditions, they have to come talk to us about what happens if someone refuses — will people get paid if they come in to be tested,” Howard said. “Basically, it’s all the details.”
Howard said talks around those details are underway.
“We’re in the middle of a staffing crisis. We can’t send people home, and we can’t terminate people,” he said. “There are a lot of questions that need to be answered. How many times a week are they going to have to be tested? What kind of mask are they going to have to wear?”
The corrections department reported in late June that about 80% of the corrections officers have been vaccinated. At the same time, the department reported that 76% of incarcerated individuals had agreed to be vaccinated.
Howard, speaking Monday, questioned what the policy will be going forward with regard to the vaccination of incarcerated individuals.
“What about the inmates? Are they also going to show proof of vaccination? Are they going to have to be tested at the same pace as a corrections officer?” Howard asked. “I don’t think there should be one standard for the correctional officer and one standard for the offenders.”
Asked Monday about the status of the governor’s call for the vaccination of corrections officers, Jason Maulucci, the governor’s spokesperson, replied in an email, “We are currently finalizing the discussions surrounding the policy and its implantation, which could come as soon as tomorrow. Once finalized, the policy will be effective on September 1.”
In a follow-up email, Maulucci said the administration had contacted the union about the plan prior to the governor’s announcement earlier this month, and the administration has had “constructive conversations” with the union about the requirement.
“We anticipate a resolution in the next few days,” he said.
Later Monday afternoon, the corrections department reported a staff member at the Newport prison, who was most recently in the facility Aug. 17, tested positive for the coronavirus Aug. 18. One staff member identified as a close contact with that person is quarantined.
A second Newport prison staff member last in the facility Aug. 21 tested positive through a rapid test that same day, the corrections department said in a statement. Five staff members identified as close contacts with that person are now quarantined.
All staff not quarantined at the Newport prison will be tested Tuesday for Covid-19, according to the corrections department. Incarcerated individuals at the facility were previously tested Aug. 18, according to the corrections department, with all results returned negative.
