Vermont H. 174: An act relating to school district consolidation

Bill Text

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H.174 1
Introduced by Representatives Casey of Montpelier and Headrick of 2
Burlington 3
Referred to Committee on 4
Date: 5
Subject: Executive; State Employees Labor Relations Act; Labor Relations 6
Board; grievances, unfair labor practices 7
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to remove 8
grievances from the Labor Relations Board workload and to require that the 9
final step in the grievance process be binding arbitration. This bill also 10
proposes to set deadlines for the handling of unfair labor practices before the 11
Labor Relations Board. 12
An act relating to the Vermont Labor Relations Board 13
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 14
* * * Binding Arbitration * * * 15
Sec. 1. 3 V.S.A. § 904 is amended to read: 16
§ 904. SUBJECTS FOR BARGAINING 17
(a) All matters relating to the relationship between the employer and 18
employees shall be the subject of collective bargaining except those matters 19
that are prescribed or controlled by statute. The matters appropriate for 20

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collective bargaining to the extent they are not prescribed or controlled by 1
statute include: 2
(1) wages, salaries, benefits, and reimbursement practices relating to 3
necessary expenses and the limits of reimbursable expenses; 4
(2) minimum hours per week; 5
(3) working conditions; 6
(4) overtime compensation and related matters; 7
(5) leave compensation and related matters; 8
(6) reduction-in-force procedures; 9
(7) grievance procedures, including whether an appeal to the Vermont 10
Labor Relations Board or binding arbitration, or both, will constitute the final 11
step in a grievance procedure; 12
* * * 13
Sec. 2. 3 V.S.A. § 926 is amended to read: 14
§ 926. GRIEVANCES 15
(a) The Board shall hear and make a final determination on the grievances 16
of all employees who are eligible to appeal grievances to the Board. Grievance 17
hearings at the Board level shall be conducted in accordance with the rules and 18
regulations adopted by the Board. The right to institute grievance proceedings 19
extends to individual employees, groups of employees, and collective 20
bargaining units. 21

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(b) A collective bargaining agreement may provide for binding Binding 1
arbitration as a shall be the final step of a grievance procedure, rather than a 2
hearing by the Board. An agreement that includes a binding arbitration 3
provision Collective bargaining agreements shall also include the procedure 4
for selecting an arbitrator. 5
(c) If a collective Collective bargaining agreement provides for binding 6
arbitration as a final step of a grievance procedure, the agreement agreements 7
may also establish: 8
(1) procedural rules for conducting grievance arbitration proceedings; 9
(2) whether grievance arbitration proceedings will be confidential; and 10
(3) whether arbitrated grievance determinations will have precedential 11
value. 12
(d) An arbitrator chosen or appointed under this section shall have no 13
authority to add to, subtract from, or modify the collective bargaining 14
agreement. 15
(e) Any collective Collective bargaining agreement that contains a binding 16
arbitration provision pursuant to this section agreements shall include an 17
acknowledgement of arbitration that provides substantially the following: 18
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ARBITRATION 19
(The parties) understand that this agreement contains a provision for binding 20
arbitration as a final step of the grievance process. After the effective date of 21

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this agreement, no grievance, submitted to binding arbitration, may be brought 1
to the Vermont Labor Relations Board. An employee who has declined 2
representation by the employee organization or whom the employee 3
organization has declined to represent or is unable to represent, shall be 4
entitled, either by representing himself or herself or with the assistance of 5
independent legal counsel, to appeal his or her grievance to the Vermont Labor 6
Relations Board as the final step of the grievance process in accordance with 7
the rules and regulations adopted by the Board. 8
(f) This section shall not apply to labor interest arbitration, which as used in 9
this chapter means the method of concluding labor negotiations by means of a 10
disinterested person to determine the terms of a labor agreement. 11
(g) A party may apply to the arbitrator for a modification of an award if the 12
application is made within 30 days after delivery of a copy of the award to the 13
applicant. An arbitrator may modify an award only if the arbitrator finds any 14
one of the following: 15
(1) There was an evident miscalculation of figures or an evident mistake 16
in the description of any person, thing, or property referred to in the award.