House General and Housing Committee hears overview of Vermont collective bargaining laws

Legislative Counsel Sophie Zadney told the House General and Housing Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 5 that Vermont has a complex patchwork of statutes governing collective bargaining and that the Vermont Labor Relations Board plays a central role in resolving unit disputes, unfair-labor-practice charges and some grievance appeals.

“Vermont has more labor relations statutes per capita than any other state in the country,” Sophie Zadney, legislative counsel, said, summarizing why the state’s rules differ by sector.

The presentation laid out why the rules matter: different statutes cover different worker groups (state employees, teachers, municipal employees, judiciary staff, independent direct support providers and early childhood providers), and those differences change who may bargain, what subjects are mandatory and what dispute-resolution steps apply.

Zadney listed seven Vermont collective-bargaining statutes she said the committee should know most about: the State Labor Relations Act (1967), the State Employees Labor Relations Act (SELRA, 1969), the Teachers and Administrators Labor Relations Act, the Municipal Employee Relations Act (1973), the Judiciary Employees Labor Relations Act (1988), the Independent Direct Support Providers Labor Relations Act (2013) and the Early Care and Education Providers Labor Relations Act (2014). She said SELRA, the Teachers Act, the Municipal Act and the Judiciary Act are the four primary statutes in routine use.

Under federal and state frameworks, different employee groups fall under different regimes. The…