Grange Notes by Tim Swartz, Grange President (with everyone’s help), May 21 2021
Change of time: starting at 10:30 AM tomorrow
Matt, who has trimmed, pruned and cut down trees for decades professionally will bring his saws and safety gear, and will cut trees into manageable sizes to move out of the parking area, and prune some overhanging branches, too.
Please contact me (Tim) by replying to this email, or call me: 802-225-8921 with any questions, and to let me know you can help out. You might get your picture in the next Grange Notes!
I hope a few more folks will join us, so we can get this work done before the afternoon heat kicks in!
And in the afternoon, from the comfort of your home, please join us for a quick Zoom meeting
This year, at our May meeting, we were reminded that time is getting short to submit a Resolution, as they need to be voted on by the Pomona Grange (the next level in the hierarchy) at their meeting on the morning of June 5th, to then progress to the State Session in October.
At that May meeting, Grange Lecturer Carl Etnier proposed that we could support the rights of working Vermonters to join unions, by supporting a bill in the VT Legislature that would make it more simple. Under this so-called “Card Check” system, getting the signatures of a majority of the workers in a public sector “bargaining unit” would be sufficient to designate a union to represent them. Currently, in addition to this step, an election must also be held to confirm this choice, giving the management time to use pressure tactics to discourage “yes” votes.
Here’s the text of the resolution that Carl and I have drafted:
Whereas: the Grange’s mission should include support for the current members of the working class, and
Whereas: workers, including public sector employees, often face stiff resistance from employers when attempting to join together to collectively negotiate better wages and working conditions, and
Whereas: Vermont bills H.308 and S.131, which are before the Vermont Legislature during the 2021-2022 biennium, are designed to allow public sector employees to join a labor union without holding an election if a majority of the members of the bargaining unit sign a petition to be represented by the union in collective bargaining, therefore
Be it Resolved: that the Vermont State Grange urges the Vermont House and Senate to pass H.308 and S.131, and the Governor to sign the final bill.
So–we need at least 7 Grange members to have a quorum to discuss and pass (or not pass) this proposed Resolution. I’d like to hear from as many people as possible, whether you support or oppose this Resolution–or propose editing the text. Please join me via Zoom at 4:30 PM on Saturday, May 22nd:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 793 5656 5031
Passcode: K3dagb (should not be necessary)