House committee hears competing testimony on H.173 to allow higher‑education employees to strike

The House General and Housing Committee on Thursday, March 22, heard an overview of Vermont labor law and testimony for and against H.173, the bill that would allow certain public higher‑education employees to strike. Witnesses included Sophie Zadatny of the Office of Legislative Council, Sharon Scott, chief financial and operating officer of the Vermont State Colleges System, Matt McGrath, organizing director at AFT Vermont, and Ellen Kaye, co‑president of UVM Staff United. No committee vote was taken.

Sophie Zadatny, legislative counsel, opened with a tutorial explaining that federal law (the National Labor Relations Act) governs private‑sector strikes but does not grant public employees a right to strike; whether public workers may strike in Vermont depends on state statutes. Zadatny identified two statutes that currently allow limited strike rights — the Labor Relations for Teachers and Administrators Act and the Municipal Employee Relations Act — and said the State Employees’ Labor Relations Act and the Judiciary Employees’ Labor Relations Act prohibit strikes for those covered employees. She described statutory impasse procedures that typically include mediation, fact finding and, in some cases, binding arbitration or a “last best offer”…