The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 21: Labor

Chapter 019: Vermont State Labor Relations Act

• Subchapter 001: GENERAL PROVISIONS

• § 1501. Title and declaration of policy

  (a) This chapter shall be known as the State Labor Relations Act.

  (b) It is the purpose and policy of this chapter to prescribe the legitimate rights of both employees and employers in their relations with each other, to provide orderly and peaceful procedures for preventing the interference by either with the legitimate rights of the other, to protect the rights of individual employees in their relations with labor organizations, to define and proscribe practices on the part of labor and management that are harmful to the general welfare, and to protect the rights of the public in connection with labor disputes. (1967, No. 198, § 1; amended 1969, No. 51, § 1, eff. April 8, 1969.)

• § 1502. Definitions

  As used in this chapter:

  (1) “Board” means the State Labor Relations Board established under 3 V.S.A. § 921.

  (2) “Chair” means the Chair of the Board.

  (3) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Labor.

  (4) “Collective bargaining” or “bargaining collectively” means the process of negotiating terms, tenure, or conditions of employment between one or more employers and representatives of employees with the intent to arrive at an agreement that, when reached, shall be reduced to writing.

  (5) “Collective bargaining unit” means the employees of an employer being either all of the employees, the members of a craft, or the employees of a plant or subdivision thereof.

  (6) “Employee” includes any employee, and is not limited to the employees of a particular employer unless this chapter explicitly states otherwise, and includes any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice and who has not obtained any other regular and substantially equivalent employment, but does not include an individual:

  (A) employed as an agricultural laborer;

  (B) employed by the individual’s parent or spouse;

  (C) [Repealed.]

  (D) having the status of an independent contractor;

  (E) employed as a supervisor;

  (F) employed by an employer subject to the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. §§ 151–165; or

  (G) employed by any other person who is not an employer as defined in subdivision (7) of this section.

  (7) “Employer” means any person employing five or more employees and any person acting as an agent of an employer, employing five or more employees, directly or indirectly, but does not include:

  (A) the United States or any wholly owned government corporation or any federal reserve bank;

  (B) this State or any political subdivision of this State or any incorporated or interstate school district;

  (C) any person subject to the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. §§ 151–165;

  (D) any labor organization, other than when acting as an employer, or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of a labor organization; or

  (E) a person operating a hospital or a nursing home, if no part of the net earnings inures to the benefit of a private individual or shareholder.

  (8) “Labor dispute” includes any controversy concerning terms, tenure, or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.

  (9) “Labor organization” means an organization of any kind or any agency or any employee representation committee or plan in which employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employees concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.

  (10) “Person” includes one or more individuals, labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers.

  (11) “Professional employee” means:

  (A) any employee engaged in work:

  (i) predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work;

  (ii) involving the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance;

  (iii) of such character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time; and

  (iv) requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning or a hospital, as distinguished from a general academic education or from an apprenticeship or from training in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical processes; or

  (B) any employee who:

  (i) has completed the courses of specialized intellectual instruction and study described in subdivision (A)(iv) of this subdivision (11); and

  (ii) is performing related work under the supervision of a professional person to qualify to become a professional employee as defined in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (11).

  (12) “Representatives” includes any individual or labor organization.

  (13) “Supervisor” means an individual having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if the exercise of the authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature but requires the use of independent judgment.

  (14) “Agency fee” means a fee deducted by an employer from the salary or wages of an employee who is not a member of an employee organization, which is paid to the employee organization that is the exclusive bargaining agent for the bargaining unit of the employee. An agency fee shall not exceed 85 percent of the amount payable as dues by members of the employee organization and shall be deducted in the same manner as dues are deducted from the salary or wages of members of the employee organization and shall be used to defray the costs of chargeable activities. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 2; amended 1967, No. 71, § 1; 1975, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2013, No. 37, § 13, eff. June 30, 2013; 2017, No. 74, § 55; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 149; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 234, eff. July 1, 2024; 2023, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1503. Rights of employees; mutual duty to bargain

  (a) Employees shall have the right to self-organization; to form, join, or assist labor organizations; to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choice; and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all such activities, except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment as authorized in subsection 1621(a) of this title. An employee who exercises the right not to join the labor organization representing the employee’s certified unit pursuant to section 1581 of this title shall, subject to subsection (b) of this section, pay the agency fee to the representative of the bargaining unit in the same manner as employees who pay membership fees to the representative. The labor organization agrees to indemnify and hold the employer harmless from any and all claims stemming from the implementation or administration of the agency fee.

  (b) A labor organization shall not charge the agency fee unless it has established and maintained a procedure to provide nonmembers with:

  (1) An audited financial statement that identifies the major categories of expenses and divides them into chargeable and nonchargeable expenses.

  (2) An opportunity to object to the amount of the agency fee sought and to place in escrow any amount reasonably in dispute.

  (3) Prompt arbitration by an arbitrator selected jointly by the objecting fee payer and the labor organization or pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association to resolve any objection over the amount of the agency fee. The costs of arbitration shall be paid by the labor organization. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 3; amended 2013, No. 37, § 14, eff. June 30, 2013; 2017, No. 74, § 56.)

• § 1504. General duties

  (a) All employers and their officers, agents, and employees or representatives shall exert every reasonable effort to make and maintain agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, wages, hours of employment, and conditions of work, and to settle all disputes, whether arising out of the application of those agreements or growing out of any dispute between the employer and the employer’s employees.

  (b) All labor disputes between employers and their employees shall, upon the request of either party, be considered within 15 days after the request, or at a time that is mutually agreed to, and, if possible, settled, with all expedition, in conference between representatives designated and authorized to confer, by the employer or by the employer’s employees who are interested in the dispute. However, this obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession. (1967, No. 198, § 4; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 235, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1505. Application

  This chapter shall not apply to any employer or any labor dispute that affects commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 151–169, unless the National Labor Relations Board shall have ceded jurisdiction to the Board pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 160 or shall have declined to assert jurisdiction pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 164(c). (Added 1967, No. 198, § 17; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 236, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• Subchapter 002: LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

• § 1541. Repealed. 1975 (Adj. Sess.), No. 152, § 7.

• § 1542. Repealed. 1975 (Adj. Sess.), No. 152, § 7.

• § 1543. Appropriate unit; basis for determination

  (a) The Board shall decide in each case whether, in order to ensure the employees have the fullest freedom in exercising the rights guaranteed by this Act, the unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining is the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or a subdivision thereof. However, the Board shall not decide that:

  (1) A unit is appropriate for those purposes if the unit includes both professional employees and employees who are not professional employees, unless a majority of the professional employees vote for inclusion in the unit.

  (2) A craft unit is inappropriate for those purposes on the ground that a different unit has been established by an earlier determination of the Board unless a majority of the employees in the proposed craft unit vote against separate representation.

  (3) A unit is appropriate for those purposes if it includes, together with other employees, an individual employed as a guard to enforce against employees and other persons rules to protect property of the employer or to protect the safety of persons on the employer’s premises. However, no labor organization may be certified as the representative of employees in a bargaining unit of guards if it admits to membership, or is affiliated directly or indirectly with an organization which admits to membership employees other than guards.

  (b) In determining whether a unit is appropriate for the purposes specified in subsection (a) of this section, the extent to which the employees have organized shall not be controlling. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 7; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 237, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1544. Rules

  (a) The Board shall have authority to adopt, amend, and rescind rules as necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

  (b) In carrying out this chapter the Board may, under any applicable federal law, rule, or regulation, petition the National Labor Relations Board for an advisory opinion as to whether that agency will assert jurisdiction over a labor dispute that is the subject of a proceeding then pending before the Board.

  (c) All findings, conclusions, and determinations of the Board under this chapter shall be public records. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 12; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 238, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• Subchapter 003: ELECTIONS

• § 1581. Petitions for election; filing, investigations, hearings, determinations

  (a) A petition may be filed with the Board, in accordance with rules adopted by the Board:

  (1) By an employee or group of employees, or any individual or labor organization acting in their behalf, alleging that not less than 30 percent of the employees:

  (A) wish to be represented for collective bargaining and that their employer declines to recognize their representative as the representative defined in section 1583 of this title; or

  (B) assert that the individual or labor organization that has been certified, or is being currently recognized by their employer as the bargaining representative, is no longer a representative as defined in section 1583 of this title.

  (2) By an employer, alleging that one or more individuals or labor organizations have presented to him or her a claim to be recognized as the representative defined in section 1583 of this title.

  (b)(1) The Board shall investigate the petition and if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation exists shall provide for an appropriate hearing before the Board itself, a Board member, or its agents appointed for that purpose upon due notice. Written notice of the hearing shall be mailed by certified mail to the parties named in the petition not less than seven days before the hearing.

  (2) If the Board finds upon the record of the hearing that a question of representation exists, it shall conduct an election by secret ballot marked at the place of election and certify to the parties, in writing, the results of the election.

  (3)(A) If the Board finds upon the record of the hearing that a petition to be represented for collective bargaining filed pursuant to subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section, which identifies a proposed bargaining representative, bears the signatures of at least 50 percent plus one of the employees in the bargaining unit, the Board shall certify the individual or labor organization identified as the bargaining representative.

  (B) Certification of a representative shall only be available pursuant to this subdivision (B) when no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the bargaining representative.

  (c) In determining whether or not a question of representation exists, the Board shall apply the same rules regardless of the identity of the persons filing the petition or the kind of relief sought.

  (d) Nothing in this chapter prohibits the waiving of hearings by stipulation for a consent election in conformity with rules of the Board.

  (e) For the purposes of this chapter, representatives of employees of a collective bargaining unit voluntarily recognized by an employer through the voluntary negotiation of an employment contract with such unit shall constitute recognized representatives of the employees until such time as any other representative is recognized under the provisions of this section or until such representatives’ authority is rescinded under section 1584 of this title. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 8; amended 1973, No. 213 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 3, 1974; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 239, eff. July 1, 2024; 2023, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1582. Election; eligibility to vote; runoff elections

  An election shall not be directed in any bargaining unit or any subdivision within which, in the preceding 12 months, a valid election has been held. Employees engaged in an economic strike who are not entitled to reinstatement are eligible to vote, under rules of the Board consistent with the provisions of this chapter, in any election conducted within 12 months after the beginning of the strike. In any election where none of the choices on the ballot receive a majority, a runoff shall be conducted by the Board. The ballot shall provide for a selection between the two choices receiving the largest and second largest number of valid votes cast in the election. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 9; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 240, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1583. Powers of representatives

  Representatives designated or selected for the purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes shall be the exclusive representatives of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment. However, any individual employee or group of employees shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer and to have such grievances adjusted, without the intervention of the bargaining representative, as long as the adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of a collective bargaining contract or agreement then in effect, provided that the bargaining representative has been given an opportunity to be present at such adjustment. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 10.)

• § 1584. Petitions and election to rescind representative’s authority

  (a) When 30 percent or more of the employees in a bargaining unit covered by an agreement between their employer and a labor organization requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment file a petition alleging that they desire that the authority of the labor organization to make such an agreement be rescinded, the Board shall take a secret ballot of the employees in such unit and certify the results thereof, in writing, to the labor organization and to the employer.

  (b) No election shall be conducted under this section in a bargaining unit or a subdivision within which in the preceding 12 months a valid election or certification of a representative pursuant to this subchapter has occurred. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 11; amended 2023, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1585. Election conduct

  Any interested person may file with the Board a charge that employees eligible to vote in an election under this chapter have been coerced or restrained in the exercise of this right. The Board shall investigate the charge. If, upon the basis of its findings, the Board concludes that employees eligible to vote in the election were so coerced or restrained, the Board may set aside such election and order another election and may begin proceedings under section 1622 of this title. No election shall be set aside unless the Board finds such coercion or restraint. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 13.)

• Subchapter 004: UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES

• § 1621. Unfair labor practices

  (a) It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer:

  (1) To interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed in section 1503 of this title.

  (2) To dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other support to it; provided that an employer shall not be prohibited from permitting employees to confer with the employer during working hours without loss of time or pay.

  (3) By discrimination in regard to hire and tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment, to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization.

  (4) To discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because the employee has filed charges or given testimony under this chapter.

  (5) To refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of the employees subject to the provisions of section 1583 of this chapter.

  (6) Nothing in this chapter or any other statute of this State shall preclude an employer from making an agreement with a labor organization (not established, maintained, or assisted by any action defined in this subsection (a) as an unfair labor practice) to require as a condition of employment membership in such labor organization on or after the 30th day following the beginning of such employment or the effective date of such agreement, whichever is the later, (i) if such labor organization is the representative of the employees as provided in section 1583 of this chapter, in the appropriate collective bargaining unit covered by such agreement when made; and (ii) unless following an election held as provided in section 1584 of this chapter within one year preceding the effective date of such agreement, the Board shall have certified that at least a majority of the employees eligible to vote in such election have voted to rescind the authority of such labor organization to make such an agreement. Nothing in this section shall require an employer to discharge an employee in the absence of such an agreement. An employer shall not justify any discrimination against an employee for nonmembership in a labor organization:

  (A) if the employer has reasonable grounds for believing that membership was not available to the employee on the same terms and conditions generally applicable to other members; or

  (B) if the employer has reasonable grounds for believing that membership was denied or terminated for reasons other than the failure of the employee to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership.

  (7) To discriminate against an employee on account of race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability.

  (8) To solicit persons to replace employees, or fill positions made vacant as the result of a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute, by means of newspaper advertisement, posters, oral or written communications, or otherwise, unless the solicitations state plainly and specifically that a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute exists.

  (b) It shall be an unfair labor practice for a labor organization or its agents:

  (1)(A) To restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 1503 of this chapter. However this subdivision shall not impair the right of a labor organization to prescribe its own rules with respect to the acquisition or retention of membership in the labor organization.

  (B) To restrain or coerce an employer in the selection of representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining or adjustment of grievances.

  (2) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of subdivision (a)(3) of this section or to discriminate against an employee with respect to whom membership in such organization has been denied or terminated on some ground other than the employee’s failure to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a condition for acquiring or retaining membership.

  (3) To refuse to bargain collectively with an employer, provided it is the representative of the employees subject to the provisions of section 1583 of this title.

  (4)(i) To engage in, or to induce or encourage any individual employed by any person to engage in, a strike or a refusal in the course of employment to use, manufacture, process, transport, or otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles, materials, or commodities or to perform any services; or (ii) to threaten, coerce, or restrain any person where in either case an object thereof is:

  (A) Forcing or requiring any employer or self-employed person to join any labor or employer organization or to enter into any agreement that is prohibited by subsection (c) of this section.

  (B) Forcing or requiring any person to cease using, selling, handling, transporting, or otherwise dealing in the products of any other producer, processor, or manufacturer, or to cease doing business with any other person, or forcing or requiring any other employer to recognize or bargain with a labor organization as the representative of employees unless such labor organization has been certified as the representative of such employees under the provisions of section 1581 of this title, but this subdivision shall not be construed to make unlawful, where not otherwise unlawful, any primary strike or primary picketing.

  (C) Forcing or requiring any employer to recognize or bargain with a particular labor organization as the employee’s representative if another labor organization has been certified as the representative of those employees under section 1581 of this title.

  (D) Forcing or requiring any employer to assign particular work to employees in a particular labor organization or in a particular trade, craft, or class rather than to employees in another labor organization or in another trade, craft, or class, unless such employer is failing to conform to an order or certification of the Board determining the bargaining representative for employees performing such work. This subsection (b) shall not be construed to make unlawful a refusal by any person to enter upon the premises of any employer, other than the person’s own employer, if the employees of such employer are engaged in a strike ratified or approved by a representative of such employees whom the employer is required to recognize under this chapter. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prohibit publicity, other than picketing, for the purpose of truthfully advising the public, including consumers and members of a labor organization, that a product or products are produced by an employer with whom the labor organization has a primary dispute and are distributed by another employer, as long as such publicity does not have an effect of inducing any individual employed by any person other than the primary employer in the course of employment to refuse to pick up, deliver, or transport any goods, or not to perform any services, at the establishment of the employer engaged in such distribution.

  (5) To require employees covered by the agency fee requirement or other union security agreement authorized under subsection (a) of this section to pay, as a condition precedent to becoming a member of such organization, a fee in an amount that the Board finds excessive or discriminatory under all the circumstances. In making such a finding, the Board shall consider, among other relevant factors, the practices and customs of labor organizations in the particular industry, and the wages currently paid to the employees affected.

  (6) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver or agree to pay or deliver any money or other thing of value, in the nature of an exaction, for services that are not performed or not to be performed or that are not needed or required by the employer.

  (7) To picket or cause to be picketed, or threaten to picket or cause to be picketed, any employer where an object of the picketing is forcing or requiring an employer to recognize or bargain with a labor organization as the employee’s representative, or forcing or requiring the employees of an employer to accept or select the labor organization as their collective bargaining representative, unless the labor organization is currently certified as the representative of the employees:

  (A) Where the employer has lawfully recognized in accordance with this subchapter any other labor organization and a question concerning representation may not appropriately be raised under section 1581 of this title.

  (B) Where within the preceding 12 months a valid election under section 1581 of this title has been conducted.

  (C) Where the picketing has been conducted without a petition under section 1581 of this title being filed within 30 days after the picketing began. When such a petition has been filed, the Board shall promptly, without regard to section 1581 of this chapter or the absence of a showing of a substantial interest on the part of the labor organization, direct an election in the unit as the Board finds to be appropriate and shall certify the results of the election. This subdivision (C) shall not be construed to prohibit any picketing or other publicity for the purpose of truthfully advising the public, including consumers, that an employer does not employ members of, or have a contract with, a labor organization, unless an effect of the picketing is to induce any individual employed by any other person in the course of the individual’s employment, not to pick up, deliver, or transport any goods or not to perform any services. This subdivision (b)(7) shall not be construed to permit any act that would otherwise be an unfair labor practice under this subsection.

  (8) Compulsory membership; employees’ rights. A labor organization entering into an agreement requiring a person’s membership in the labor organization as a condition of employment by the employer shall not:

  (A) discriminate against a person seeking or holding membership in the labor organization on account of race, color, disability, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or national origin;

  (B) penalize a member for exercising a right guaranteed by the Constitution or laws of the United States or the State of Vermont;

  (C) cause the discharge from employment of employees who refuse membership in the labor organization because of religious beliefs.

  (c) It shall be an unfair labor practice for any labor organization and any employer to enter into any contract or agreement, express or implied, under which the employer ceases or refrains or agrees to cease or refrain from handling, using, selling, transporting, or otherwise dealing in any of the products of any other employer, or to cease doing business with any other person, and any contract or agreement entered into before or after enactment of this chapter containing such an agreement shall be to that extent unenforceable and void.

  (d) The expressing of any views, argument, or opinion, or the dissemination thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic, oral, or visual form, shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor practice under any of the provisions of this chapter, if such expression contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit.

  (e)(1) For the purposes of this section, to bargain collectively is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any question arising under the agreement, and the execution of a written contract incorporating any agreement reached is requested by either party; but the failure or refusal of either party to agree to a proposal, or to change or withdraw a lawful proposal, or to make a concession shall not constitute, or be evidence direct or indirect of, a breach of this obligation.

  (2) Where there is in effect a collective bargaining contract covering employees, the duty to bargain collectively shall also mean that no party to such contract shall terminate or modify such contract unless the party desiring such termination or modification:

  (A) serves a written notice upon the other party to the contract of the proposed termination or modification 60 days prior to the expiration date thereof, or in the event such contract contains no expiration date, 60 days prior to the time it is proposed to make such termination or modification;

  (B) offers to meet and confer with the other party for the purpose of negotiating a new contract or a contract containing the proposed modifications;

  (C) notifies the Chair of the Board within 30 days after such notice of the existence of a dispute, provided no agreement has been reached by the time; and

  (D) continues in full force and effect, without resorting to strike or lockout, all the terms and conditions of the existing contract for a period of 60 days after such notice is given or until the expiration date of such contract, whichever occurs later.

  (3) The duties imposed upon employers, employees, and labor organizations by subdivisions (e)(2)(B), (C), and (D) shall become inapplicable upon an intervening certification of the Board, under which the labor organization or individual, which is a party to the contract, has been superseded as or ceased to be the representative of the employees subject to the provisions of section 1583 of this title, and the duties so imposed shall not be construed as requiring either party to discuss or agree to any modifications of the terms and conditions contained in a contract for a fixed period, if such modification is to become effective before such terms and conditions can be reopened under the provisions of the contract. Any employee who engages in a strike within the 60-day period specified in this subsection shall lose his or her status as an employee for the employer engaged in the particular labor dispute, for the purposes of this chapter, as amended, but such loss of status for such employee shall terminate if and when he or she is re-employed by such employer.

  (f) [Repealed.] (Added 1967, No. 198, § 14; amended 1969, No. 51, § 2; 1971, No. 205 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1973, No. 184 (Adj. Sess.); 1973, No. 214 (Adj. Sess.), § 24; 1999, No. 19, § 6; 2007, No. 41, § 19; 2013, No. 37, § 15, eff. June 30, 2013; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 241, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1622. Prevention of unfair labor practices

  (a) The Board may prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice listed in section 1621 of this title. Whenever a charge is made that any person has engaged in or is engaging in any unfair labor practice, the Board may issue and cause to be served upon such person a complaint stating the charges in that respect and containing a notice of hearing before the Board at a place and time therein fixed at least seven days after the complaint is served. The Board may amend the complaint at any time before it issues an order based thereon. No complaint shall issue based on any unfair labor practice occurring more than six months prior to the filing of the charge with the Board and the service of a copy thereof upon the person against whom such charge is made, unless the person aggrieved thereby was prevented from filing such charge by reason of service in the U.S. Armed Forces, in which event the six-month period shall be computed from the day of his or her discharge.

  (b) The person complained of shall have the right to file an answer to the original or amended complaint and appear in person or otherwise and present evidence in connection therewith at the time and place fixed in the complaint. In the discretion of the Board, any other person may be permitted to intervene and present evidence in the matter. Any proceeding under this section shall, so far as practicable, be conducted in accordance with rules of evidence used in the courts of law or equity. The Board shall provide for the making of a transcript of the testimony presented at the hearing.

  (c) The Board shall have power to administer oaths and take testimony under oath relative to the matter of inquiry. At any hearing ordered by the Board, the Board shall have the power to subpoena witnesses and to demand the production of books, papers, records, and documents for its examination. Officers who serve subpoenas issued by the Board and witnesses attending hearings conducted by the Board shall receive fees and compensation at the same rates as officers and witnesses in causes before the Criminal Division of the Superior Court, to be paid on vouchers of the Board.

  (d) If upon the preponderance of the evidence, the Board finds that any person named in the complaint has engaged in or is engaging in any such unfair labor practice, it shall state its findings of fact in writing and shall issue and cause to be served on such person an order requiring him or her to cease and desist from such unfair labor practice, and to take such affirmative action as will carry out the policies of this chapter. If upon the preponderance of the evidence the Board does not find that the person named in the complaint has engaged in or is engaging in any such unfair labor practice, it shall state its findings of fact in writing and dismiss the complaint.

  (e) In determining whether a complaint shall issue alleging a violation of subdivision 1621(a)(1) or (2) of this title, and in deciding such cases, the same regulations and rules of decision shall apply irrespective of whether or not labor organization affected is affiliated with a labor organization national or international in scope.

  (f) No order of the Board shall require the reinstatement of any individual as an employee who has been suspended or discharged, or the payment to him or her of any back pay, if such individual was suspended or discharged for cause.

  (g) Until the record in a case shall have been filed in a court, as hereinafter provided, the Board may at any time, upon reasonable notice and in such manner as it shall deem proper, modify or set aside, in whole or in part, any finding or order made or issued by it. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 15; amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238.)

• § 1623. Judicial review

  (a) The Board may petition the Supreme Court for the enforcement of such Board order relative thereto and for appropriate temporary relief or restraining order. The Board shall certify and file in the court the entire record in the proceeding, including the pleadings and evidence upon which the order was entered, and its findings and order; provided, however, the court may, by separate rule, set forth the portions of the record to be certified and filed. Thereupon, the court shall cause notice thereof to be served upon such person, and shall then have jurisdiction of the proceeding and of the question determined therein. It shall have the power to grant such temporary relief or restraining order as it considers just and proper, and to make and enter a decree enforcing, modifying and enforcing as so modified, or wholly or partly setting aside the Board’s order.

  (b) The parties before the court shall be the Board and such person found by the Board to have committed the unfair labor practice.

  (c) Any aggrieved party to a proceeding under section 1622 of this title may appeal to the Supreme Court under 12 V.S.A. chapter 102 and the Vermont Rules of Appellate Procedure.

  (d) No objection that has not been urged before the Board may be considered by the court, unless the failure or neglect to urge such objection shall be excused because of extraordinary circumstances. The findings of the Board with respect to questions of fact, if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall be conclusive. However, if either party applies to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence, and shows to the satisfaction of the court that such additional evidence is material and that there were reasonable grounds for the failure to adduce such additional evidence at the hearing before the Board, the court may order such additional evidence to be taken before the Board and to be made a part of the record. The Board may modify its findings as to facts or make new findings because of additional evidence so taken. The Board shall file such modified or new findings which findings with respect to questions of fact, if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall be conclusive, and shall file its recommendations, if any, for the modification or setting aside of its original order.

  (e) The commencement of proceedings under this section shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the Board’s order.

  (f) Petitions filed under the chapter shall be heard expeditiously.

  (g) The Board shall have the power upon issuance of a complaint as provided for under this act to petition the Superior Court within any county wherein the unfair labor practice is alleged to have occurred, for appropriate temporary relief or restraining order. Upon the filing of such petition the court shall cause notice thereof to be served upon such person, and thereupon, shall have jurisdiction to grant to the Board such temporary relief as it deems just and proper. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 16; amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 2017, No. 74, § 57.)

• § 1624. Contract ratification; annual vote

  Annually, the employees of the bargaining unit shall meet and discuss whether employees who have chosen not to join the employee organization shall be allowed to vote on the ratification of any collective bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter. After discussion, employees that are members of the employee organization shall vote on whether to allow employees who have chosen not to join the employee organization to vote on the ratification of any collective bargaining agreement. (Added 2013, No. 37, § 15a, eff. June 30, 2013.)