The Council 93 members who work at the Howard Center, a mental health and substance recovery provider in Chittenden County, Vermont, knew what they were up against. For decades, their employer had been vehemently anti-union, maintaining a right-to-work-type contract since they were organized in 1980.
Dan Peyser, a psychotherapist at the Howard Center Methadone Clinic, put it this way: “Howard Center is not a normal employer. It’s not that they don’t play ball. For them, it’s more. There is no ball game.”
Council 93 General Counsel Rob Van Campen described the lengths to which the Howard Center has gone to prevent unionization at their workplace: “This is an employer who appealed a minor issue of labor law, which they had little to no chance of winning, to the Vermont Supreme Court, lost, and then tried unsuccessfully to appeal the case to the United States Supreme Court.”
Stonewalling by management had been routine when Peyser became the president of Local 1674 in 2018. He was determined to change that. He believed that his co-workers at the state-funded center deserved both more recognition and better pay for the taxing yet critical services they provide. But he also recognized that to win better contract language, he needed to focus on strengthening and organizing the membership.
He was facing an uphill battle: only 15% of the 700-person unit were AFSCME members, a result of the anti-union sentiment the Howard Center had long fostered. Indeed, just a few years before Peyser took the reins, the group had hit a low-water mark of only 60 members.
Through constant internal organizing, one-on-one conversations, prioritizing building a robust steward system and always centering membership growth in their activities, Peyser – and his successor as local president, Katie Harris – slowly started to rebuild the local’s membership and create a pro-union culture. Within three years, membership had more than doubled.
Thanks to their growing union power, when the bargaining team began their most recent round of negotiations this past spring, they knew they had more leverage than they’d had in decades. This was their chance to go after right to work in the contract.
That’s why their key goal was to include a fair share fee for new hires in their new contract, breaking the anti-union standstill.
According to Nolan Rampey, a clinical behavior specialist for children and vice president of Local 1674: “Our focus going into negotiations was set on fair share – that was our base, our starting point. The level of opposition we faced from Howard Center management in negotiations for granting fair share was staggering.”
After impasse was declared, the local began conducting open bargaining, allowing members to attend negotiations and helping to maintain transparency. In the summer, they began informational picketing.
When the local held a community “Honk and Wave” action for higher wages and fair share fees in July, more than 80 workers showed up to the action, many more than even the bargaining team had expected.
The picket also generated support from their local community. Prominent political figures turned out, such as the AFSCME-endorsed Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman. This demonstrated to Howard Center management that the workers’ demands were gaining public support, even beyond their bargaining unit.
“It was a ‘seeing is believing’ moment,” recalls Rampey. “That was crucial because everyone was able to see and understand that the union is not something external. We are the union, and our strength is in our numbers.”
Support for their union continued to grow and solidify; by the time they reached a tentative agreement, union membership was at 54%, the first time since they were organized that they became a majority union shop.
According to Andy Blanchet, a career coach who became Local 1674’s President in 2021: “The real story here is the snowball effect of realizing your power [in a union]. You just have to keep pushing because every seemingly small victory along the way adds up to a big one – you just need to start.”
Thanks to their grit and growing power, members of Local 1674 ratified a collective bargaining agreement in October that introduces a fair share fee that will strengthen their union voice, finally striking down four decades of right to work in the contract.
They also won meaningful improvements on wages and differentials, while resisting an attempt to create a two-tiered benefit system for future hires. At every turn, Local 1674 opted for solidarity.
There is more work to do, said Andy Blanchet, but Local 1674 members stand on the strongest footing they have in decades.
“Our union is only as strong as those of us who decide to do something,” Blanchet said. “That was realized throughout this victory and marked a significant shift towards an open, safe, pro-union culture at Howard Center.”