Nancy Remsen

Free Press Staff Writer

Labor Day rallies at 1 p.m. in Burlington and 5:30 p.m. in Middlebury will be celebrations of progress rather than laments about what has been lost, organizers say.

That organized labor could find anything to celebrate in the face of shrinking membership might seem surprising. Nationally, union ranks have shrunk from 20.1 percent wage and salary workers in 1983 to 11.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In actual numbers, that is a decline from 17.7 million to 14.5 million union members.

In Vermont, however, James Haslam, executive director of the Vermont Workers' Center, asserts, "We have seen a really good resurgence in many ways in the labor movement."

Haslam cites the strike of bus drivers in Chittenden County, the organization of a union and negotiation of a first contract for home health workers, rejuvenation of a near dormant union at the Howard Center and passage of a minimum wage increase by the Legislature as examples of the worker groups restoring "the 'move' in the labor movement."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is a fixture at Vermont labor rallies and will deliver a dose of reality to the two gatherings next Monday. One is at Battery Park and the other at the Middlebury town green.

"My message is that the overall economy certainly is a lot better than after the Wall Street crash," he said, "but the reality is the middle class is continuing to shrink. Most of the new jobs are low-wage."

"We have to work hard to make sure government responds to working people in this country and not just to millionaires and billionaires," Sanders said.

Why would Vermont's labor movement celebrate a strike?

"The thing that was so inspiring is the unity they built and the way the community responded," Haslam said of the strike by drivers for the Chittenden County Transportation Authority. "It was an important demonstration that people can come together and stay together and win."

Vermont is also growing new unions, Haslam said. Vermont homecare workers won the right to form a union in 2013 and negotiated their first contract this year.

Amanda Sheppard of Bridport is president of the new homecare workers union. She said that contrary to the stereotypical view of union/management relations, she contended that the union has given workers a way to talk directly to the state about ways to improve service delivery. She added that state officials have welcomed the information.

"That is what we are celebrating, the programs themselves." Sheppard said.

Haslam noted that prior to the union's formation, these workers — scattered throughout the state — were virtually powerless and voiceless.

Inspired by the success of the homecare workers, Haslam said early educators are now organizing.

And at the Howard Center, a union established in the 1970s has seen recently a tripling of its membership, the Worker Center director said.

Labor can also celebrate passage of a law increasing the minimum wage to $10.50 an hour by 2018. "It is a success," Haslam said, noting that the wage in 2000 was $5.25 an hour. He added, "We obviously have a long way to go" to get to a livable wage.

Haslam also cited the success of the state's migrant justice movement. In 2011, the state Senate approved a provision to a pending health care bill that would exclude undocumented workers from coverage under the state's future universal health care system.

Migrant worker advocates pushed back and won deletion of the restriction. "Two years later, many of those same legislators voted to let undocumented workers have drivers' licenses," Haslam said.

The rallies will focus on the future, not just the past.

"We celebrate our successes, but definitely the main message is we have a lot more work to do," Haslam said, noting that labor will return to the Statehouse in January to push for a law requiring paid sick leave.

Sanders said Congress should also take steps to help workers, such as expanding jobs opportunities by creating a program to rebuild the state's aging roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure. Congress should pass a livable wage, address the expense of a college education and reform the tax code.

How likely is that given the makeup of the current Congress?

The public has a chance to make changes in the November election. Sanders said, "I know organized labor will be very active in the coming months."

Contact Nancy Remsen at 578-5685 or nremsen@freepressmedia.com. Follow Nancy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nancybfp