A new collaboration was recently launched to bring the WSR model to Vermont’s construction industry. Migrant Justice’s Milk with Dignity program is well-respected in the region for its track record of protecting dairy workers’ human rights. A growing number of Migrant Justice members are working on construction sites, and recent news stories have revealed overcrowded housing conditions, putting pressure on the industry to act. Progress is moving swiftly as many of the elements of a WSR program are already in place.

Representatives from Migrant Justice and Vermont Construction Company announce their commitment to BDR. Photo credit: Migrant Justice.

In late January 2025, Vermont Construction Company (VCC) signed an agreement committing to join the Building Dignity and Respect Program (BDR). The BDR program was developed in the construction industry of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. It includes standards for fundamental legal rights at work and establishes an independent monitoring system, the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council, to support compliance and ensure enforcement.
Based on the Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) model, the program includes a holistic combination of worker education, a complaint hotline and comprehensive independent monitoring. This program, based on the model of existing WSR programs such as the Fair Food Program and Milk with Dignity, will now be in turn adapted to the construction industry in Vermont where workers face unique challenges as well as a different legal context.

The WSR Network was founded to facilitate the cross-pollination and relationship-building between workers across industries and geographies. That it is possible to go from a news exposé to the intricacies of adapting a code of conduct in just a matter of months is a testament to the long, deep work that was done before, and the power of the worker-driven vision that first sparked the Network.

Migrant Justice worker leader José Ignacio spoke to the timeliness of the program: 

“Vermont needs more construction workers to address the state’s housing crisis, but many of us who find work in the industry do not have the protections we need to keep ourselves safe or prevent abuse. We are glad that Vermont Construction is making this commitment to the workers on its projects, and we will join together to make sure that workers are treated with the respect and dignity that we all deserve.”

Workers in Minneapolis welcome this advance for the program and hope that it brings more property developers in the Twin Cities to the program to benefit more workers. One of the worker leaders of CTUL’s Women in Construction Committee, Angeles Robledo, spoke of how the BDR program is designed to address some of the most pressing problems they experience on the job site. 

“In the construction industry, women have been subject to silence, exclusion, and invisibility. We suffer mistreatment, sexual harassment, wage theft, and various other labor abuses. The BDR Program is designed to empower us, to be able to speak out about our rights without fear of retaliation. We want to invite developers in the Twin Cities to follow VCC´s leadership to ensure basic dignity and respect for workers. If VCC can do this, so can they.”

Across industries and around the globe, WSR programs are helping workers make their rights real and enforceable. WSR Network staff will be working closely with worker organizations in Vermont and Minnesota to adapt the BDR Code of Conduct to a new locale and to build dignity for construction workers in Vermont.

A worker leader from Migrant Justice speaks on the need for the Building Dignity and Respect Program in the Vermont construction industry. Photo credit: Migrant Justice.