Vermont § 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.)