The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
001
:
GENERAL PROVISIONS
(Cite as: 21 V.S.A. § 1503)
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§ 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.)