BURLINGTON — Two candidates for Vermont’s sole seat in the U.S. House voiced their support Monday for the University of Vermont staff union, which has been trying to work out a contract with the Burlington institution for more than half a year.
Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden, and Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, addressed reporters and a small crowd of students at the Waterman Building on UVM’s campus, flanked by two dozen members of UVM Staff United.
The union represents 1,350 clerical, technical and specialized workers at the school.
“It is far overdue that we give UVM staff the raise and the respect that they deserve,” Ram Hinsdale said over the sound of honking cars on South Prospect Street. “No one should make a wage below what meets their basic needs.”
The union and school administrators have met about a dozen times since negotiations began last fall but have yet to come to terms on what would be union members’ first contract. UVM Staff United says its bargaining priorities include higher salaries, better benefits, diversity and equity in hiring, and greater flexibility at work.
Last month, at a rally on campus, UVM Staff United decried the school’s response to a union wage proposal. UVM, for its part, has said it is bargaining with the union in good faith. Both parties have declined to publicly discuss details of the process. The school’s administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Monday.
Labor and management met on Friday and are scheduled to sit down again Wednesday, members of the union said. Speakers said Monday they’re frustrated with how negotiations are going; one person gave a thumbs down when a reporter asked how Friday’s meeting went.
“They say they’re hearing us, but their proposals back to us indicate that they are not,” said Ellen Kaye, a union lead negotiator who works at UVM’s Howe Library.
Kaye said UVM had 230 open positions as of Sunday, and she believes that figure will only increase unless staff members are compensated more fairly. More than 500 staff members make less than $20 an hour, she said, and some have to work extra jobs or use food assistance programs so they can afford to live in the Burlington area.
“What this is really about is ensuring that we have enough staff,” Kaye said, “so that students and the community get the support, programming and instruction that they expect and deserve.”
Balint said she has heard both on the campaign trail and in the state Senate that morale is low among UVM staff, and that’s not just because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People don’t feel valued,” she said, directing her remarks at UVM administrators. “Help (staff members) get a contract that allows them to keep being Vermonters. Here in our communities, we do not want them to feel like they cannot make it work anymore.”
Both Balint and Ram Hinsdale are running for the seat currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.; Welch is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who has announced he is retiring when his term ends in January.
State Rep. Selene Colburn, P/D-Burlington, who works in UVM libraries, also spoke to reporters Monday and said she’s seen firsthand the effects of inadequate pay on campus.
“We need competitive wages,” she said. “In my unit, we are struggling to hire people into open positions because the wages do not match the cost of living here.”
UVM Staff United members said they’re planning a rally and march on campus this Friday, which they expect to be the largest action yet of their campaign for a contract.
