{"id":631073,"date":"2025-09-10T17:04:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T21:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/?p=631073"},"modified":"2025-09-10T17:04:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T21:04:54","slug":"gov-phil-scott-union-president-release-dueling-videos-on-state-employees-return-to-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2025\/09\/10\/gov-phil-scott-union-president-release-dueling-videos-on-state-employees-return-to-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Phil Scott, union president release dueling videos on state employees\u2019 return to office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Vermont State Employees\u2019 Association President Aimee Bertrand and Governor Phil Scott. Photos by Glenn Russell\/VTDigger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In an appeal to state workers, Gov. Phil Scott released a video statement this week explaining his decision to institute a three-days-per-week return to office across state government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVermonters want and need to access their government. They need to see us in their communities. They need to know where and how we work,\u201d he said, recording from his office desk. \u201cMost importantly, they want and need us to be good stewards of their tax dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, the Vermont State Employees\u2019 Association, the union representing state workers, has strongly opposed the move, and its president released a video of her own in response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have excluded us from the conversation. You have shut us out of your secret committee that is meeting to work on a policy that will have devastating impacts on the delivery of vital services,\u201d Aimee Bertrand said in her video message, referencing a cross-agency group Scott had empowered to plan the logistics of the switch. She recorded from her kitchen, where she said she works remotely every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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