Labor Relations Board tells Appropriations panel staffing gaps and low per diems slow hearings

Judith Dillon, executive director of the Vermont Labor Relations Board, told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 17 that the board is short-staffed and constrained by an outdated statutory per-diem. "The stipend is a $125 per day per board member," Dillon said, and the board had requested raising that rate to $250 per day to match recent legislative adjustments for other boards.

Dillon summarized the board’s work—adjudicating unfair labor practice complaints, resolving grievances, and overseeing representation petitions—and explained the six-member composition required by statute: two labor representatives, two management representatives and two neutrals. She said two neutral members left in 2024, and although a new neutral, Gwen Peters, was appointed and began in June 2025, the board still has only one neutral available to fill three-member panels for…