The battle to represent Vermont’s home care workers now has a definitive end date.
The Service Employee International Union (SEIU), one of two unions in the running, announced Wednesday that the State Labor Relations Board has settled on a Sept. 9 election. The decision followed a series of three-way meetings between SEIU, the other union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Labor Relations Board.
There are roughly 7,000 home care workers in the state. AFSCME and SEIU both lobbied for the legislation, passed last May, that gave them the right to unionize.
AFSCME officials had accused SEIU of using stalling tactics to drum up more votes (link). At the end of May, Carolyn Klinglesmith said AFSCME was shooting for an early August election date.
The SEIU statement suggests the union is counting on coming out on top. “SEIU is excited to announce that thanks to the diligence of the Vermont Labor Relations Board, we are one step closer to the election that will unite thousands of Vermont home care workers with our union.”
An AFSCME statement released July 18 struck a similarly confident tone. It notes that AFSCME “expects to win the election by a large margin.”
This story was updated at 9:55 A.M. on July 19, 2013.
