UVM general counsel tells committee H.173 would remove CELRA’s balance and risk campus disruptions

Summary

Sharon Reich Paulson, general counsel at the University of Vermont, told the House Committee on General and Housing that H.173, which would grant public higher education employees the right to strike, would remove statutory guardrails in CELRA and could pose health, safety and academic risks for students and campus operations.

Sharon Reich Paulson, general counsel at the University of Vermont, told the House Committee on General and Housing that H.173 — a bill to give public higher education employees the right to strike — would “take away that balance of power and the public protection embedded in that balance.”

Paulson told the committee the State Employee Labor Relations Act (CELRA) creates a multi-step dispute-resolution process — mediation, fact finding and, if necessary, a Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB) decision choosing either party’s last best offer or the fact‑finder’s recommendation — and that H.173 would add unilateral strike power without parallel guardrails for employers or the public.

Why it matters: Paulson said that removing CELRA’s dispute-resolution structure would shift power to one side and eliminate statutory protections designed to…

UVM general counsel tells committee H.173 would remove CELRA’s balance and risk campus disruptions

Summary

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