Professional employees at the four Vermont State Colleges voted on April 23 for representation by the United Professions of Vermont, the state federation of the AFT. The employees, defined into two units by the Vermont Labor Relations Board, include 115 professional, administrative and technical employees and another unit of 52 supervisory personnel.  The units voted 73 percent and 68 percent, respectively, for UPV/AFT representation.

The professionals join the full-time and part-time faculty at the state colleges, who have been represented by the AFT since 1973.  Organizing began 18 months ago, says Roy Vestrich, president of the UPV, and included lengthy unit determination hearings before the election.

Despite a strong anti-union "informational" campaign over the last three weeks, says Vestrich, the union was able to keep the tenor of the drive on a professional plane. "This campaign was about building a professional organization and building an institution we can be proud of," he says.

The professionals first considered unionizing when the colleges imposed a unilateral change in benefits. Over time, however, the union's appeal centered on the issues of professionalism and the need for a say in the institution.

"We voted yes for the union today so that we can sit down as legal equals with administration and negotiate a legally binding contract," said Joanne Edwards, a librarian at Johnson State College.

The UPV has been on a growth spurt for the past two years. Since it became a state federation in 1999, UPV has also organized the full-time faculty at the University of Vermont, bringing its higher education numbers to 1,700. It is also organizing healthcare workers.

"We've become a real labor presence in the state," adds Vestrich. He credits Julia Curry, the lead staff organizer working on the VSC campaign, for the union's gains. [Barbara McKenna, Gerard Friesz, Roy Vestrich]

April 24, 2002