José Ignacio, VT construction worker at press conference: “Just like we know that the community is facing challenges, we know that the community is capable of creating solutions.”
Douglas Guerra, construction worker and CTUL Board President: “It is a win-win for both the workers and the companies that join the program. Workers can expect decent conditions and fair pay, while construction companies can be at the forefront of a system that will change the entire industry.”
In yet another groundbreaking victory for advancing workers’ fundamental human rights through the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model, the Vermont Construction Company has committed to join the groundbreaking Building Dignity and Respect Program, marking the first expansion of the BDR Program beyond the state of Minnesota. BDR was founded in 2020 in Minneapolis and was inspired in its structure and function by the CIW’s Fair Food Program.
This latest news out of Vermont comes on the heels of BDR’s first big breakthrough late last year when two Minneapolis developers became the first corporations to sign the legally-binding agreements that provide the enforcement power behind BDR and all other WSR programs. With this newfound market power behind them, construction workers in both states can now play the role of the frontline monitors of their own rights at the worksite, ensuring their safety and essential rights are protected. This news holds the potential to be, in short, a transformative moment for the entire construction industry. This is also an especially exciting moment for the state of Vermont, which now boasts two active WSR programs: the new, expanded BDR program as well as Milk with Dignity, which protects the state’s dairy workers by harnessing the purchasing power of Vermont’s iconic Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand to enforce farmworkers’ rights on dozens of Vermont dairy farms.
Indeed, in industries around the US and the rest of the world, worker and human rights organizations are increasingly looking to WSR in order to safeguard the dignity of low-wage workers by entering into binding legal agreements with corporations at the top of supply chains. With the exponential growth of the groundbreaking Fair Food Program in agriculture both domestically and abroad, the equally impressive track record and growth of the Bangladesh Accord (today the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry), Milk with Dignity in the dairy industry, and now this exciting news in construction, the future is growing brighter every day for the WSR model.
Be sure to check out an excerpt of the joint press release below, as well as this Vermont Public story for more media coverage of the signing, where you’ll find the inspiring words of José Ignacio, a Vermont construction worker, who said at the press conference: “Just like we know that the community is facing challenges, we know that the community is capable of creating solutions.”
