An internal dispute involving staff of the union that represents Vermont state employees could be headed for court.
Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees’ Association, circulated an email to the union’s members Tuesday advising them that VSEA management is involved in an ongoing dispute with employees of the union.
Some 16 VSEA staff members are represented in their own union, called the Staff Alliance.
“The underlying dispute amounts to what is a routine and normal difference of opinion between labor and management,” Howard wrote.
“We believed we could work with Staff Alliance to try to find common ground on points related to this personnel decision where we disagreed – and we believed a good-faith resolution was negotiable. Unfortunately, this was not the case.”
The dispute originated when VSEA staff came forward with a grievance against management. VSEA president Shelley Martin handled the arbitration.
Staff Alliance president Adam Norton, who works as a strategic analyst for the VSEA, said that the group was content with Martin’s decision. But VSEA management was not, so they appealed.
Norton, who declined to go into details about the grievance, says that the Staff Alliance does not agree with the VSEA management’s assertion that they have the right to appeal the decision.
“It’s an unfortunate distraction,” he said, though he noted he felt both sides were behaving professionally in the process.
Norton said that they are continuing to try to resolve the dispute without litigation, but that it may end up in court.
In an interview Wednesday, Howard, who also would not speak about details of the initial grievance, emphasized that the dispute is a “normal disagreement between labor and management.”
Howard said that management has made a settlement offer and noted that VSEA management hopes that the Staff Alliance will agree on the settlement.
In general, the management maintains an “amicable relationship” with the Staff Alliance, Howard said.
Howard said that the decision handed down by Martin goes outside the collective bargaining agreement with the Staff Alliance. The decision would also have significant financial implications for the members of the VSEA, he said, and could impact the management’s ability to maintain a workplace free of harassment and bullying.
But he does recognize the rights of the Staff Alliance to organize.
“We try to manage with the values of a labor union,” Howard said. “The management should be fair, it should be reasonable, but it also should be responsive.”
The dispute comes as the VSEA is negotiating a new contract with the state. Both Norton and Howard said they did not anticipate the conflict within the VSEA would impact the negotiation process at all.
“We’re labor relations professionals,” Norton said.
Meanwhile, the union has been busy with addressing issues of workplace safety for state employees following the shooting of a social worker with the Department for Children and Families last month, Howard said.
There is some change on the horizon for the leadership of the VSEA as well.
The union expected to announce the results of an internal election for union president on Saturday, according to VSEA spokesman Doug Gibson, and Martin, the incumbent, is not running again.
Dave Bellini, a longtime union member and employee in the Department of Corrections, is running unopposed to fill Martin’s post.
Meanwhile, the union’s executive director dismissed rumors that he was considering a bid for the lieutenant governor’s office.
“As long as I work for the VSEA I’m not considering a run for office,” Howard said Wednesday. He said people have approached him about a run, but that he has his hands full with the VSEA’s agenda, pointing to concerns about workplace safety.
