An out-of-state union is vying to represent Vermont Department of Corrections staff.
The National Correctional Employees Union filed a petition with the Vermont Labor Relations Board on Thursday requesting an election. In its filing, the union reported more than 30% of unionized Vermont correctional staff had shown a desire to be represented by the new union.
The labor relations board will need to verify that claim and would then schedule an election. To change unions, a majority of the corrections unit would need to vote to make the switch.
This isn’t the first time an out-of-state union has attempted to usurp the Vermont State Employees’ Association by seeking to represent Vermont’s prison and parole workers. In 2021, the New England Police Benevolent Association filed a similar petition. Corrections staff later voted by a nearly two-to-one margin to remain in the state employees’ union.
The Department of Corrections declined to comment.
The National Correctional Employees Union petition was filed by Giovanna Peruzzi, who works as an organizer for the union in Vermont. She previously worked as a Vermont corrections caseworker and for the Vermont State Employees’ Association.
In an interview Friday, Peruzzi said the organizing campaign began in earnest early this year. The appeal of the out-of-state union, which represents over 50 local branches across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, is its focus specifically on corrections, she said. Its staff all have experience working in the industry.
“Corrections is a field unlike any other,” Peruzzi said. “It affects your home life, your family, unlike any other work that is out there. Correctional officers are forgotten about. They do a lot of the same functions as other first responders without any of the recognition.”
Leading up to the union election, Peruzzi said the National Correctional Employees Union team will continue visiting Vermont correctional staff.
“I’m not sure this campaign will be successful,” she said. “I’m hopeful. I feel there’s good energy on the ground and people are looking for new representation.”
The Vermont State Employees’ Association is not perfect, its Executive Director Steve Howard acknowledged in an interview. But the union has a strong track record of representing prison and parole staff and working with Vermont’s state administration, he said. He pointed to $30 million in additional compensation over three years the union secured for corrections staff, as well as a new retirement plan that allows employees to retire earlier.
“We’re going to keep making our case that we are the powerful Vermont union that has a record of success,” Howard said. “(The National Correctional Employees Union) wants to build a massive empire. As soon as they have our members’ dues, they will be on to the next state. We’re not going to do that.”
The current contract for corrections unit staff expires next summer, and bargaining for a new contract began last week, according to Howard.
The primary issue for corrections workers is addressing the department’s staffing crisis, Howard said, a challenging problem for any union to address. But the difference he drew between the two unions is that VSEA has the experience and power to negotiate with the Vermont state government.
“We’re not afraid to speak truth to power, and we’re not afraid to take on the administration,” Howard said. “So I think our members will make the right decision.”
