Elections

V.S.A. tit. 21, ch. 19, subch. 3

in effect

21 V.S.A. § 1581 Petitions for election; filing, investigations, hearings, determinations

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 (3) 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; 2025, No. 18, § 34, eff. May 13, 2025.

21 V.S.A. § 1582 Election; eligibility to vote; runoff elections

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.

21 V.S.A. § 1583 Powers of representatives

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.

21 V.S.A. § 1584 Petitions and election to rescind representative’s authority

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.

21 V.S.A. § 1585 Election conduct

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.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/21/019Fetched: 10/21/2026