UE Local 221 members who work at the Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA) Head Start program won a new two-year contract with significant wage increase for their lowest-paid members, janitors and food service workers. Classroom teachers will also see increases that bring them closer to what their public-school counterparts earn.

The new wage scale now includes up to 20 years of service, with additional wages for food service workers if they are ServSafe certified. This led to increases of $3 per hour and up for those workers to put them on the proper spot on the new wage scale.

NEKCA workers also won significant employer contributions to a 403(b) retirement plan (similar to a 401(k), but for nonprofit workers), replacing an inadequate Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan. The employer will now contribute four percent of an employee’s wages to their retirement, with that contribution rising to five and then six percent in the subsequent years of the contract.

New language on hours and overtime is also putting more money into UE members’ pockets. Teachers with a caseload of nine children will now be paid for 40 hours per week instead of 37.5 — an important win for all teachers to give them adequate time to do their jobs. Workers are now allowed to work overtime at any time of the year when necessary to do their jobs — previously it had only been allowed during specific times of the year when assessments are taking place. Teachers will also be eligible for overtime for parent-teacher conferences, home visits, and any mandated event or training that requires them to work over 40 hours in a week.

The new contract codifies professional training time for teachers, changes Columbus Day to Indigenous People Day, and restructures the holiday schedule to give everyone a third floating holiday.

Vacation and sick leave language was changed so that workers are now eligible, on a case by case basis, to take leave even if they have exhausted all of their time and it would put them into a negative balance.

The contract was ratified in August. The negotiating committee consisted of Chief Steward Deb Brousseau and stewards Kelli Arkley and Lisa Dufour-Valley. They were assisted by Field Organizer Abbie Curtis.