Biased decision made outside the court of law comes at the expense of Vermonters the State is meant to serve
Vermont Business Magazine The Governor’s Office today issued the following statement. The Vermont Labor Relations ruled today that state workers can continue to work remotely, despite the governor's order to return to their physical workplace. Scott said at his press conference today that the state will appeal the LRB's decision to the Vermont Supreme Court and in the meantime request a stay of the decision.
“Today’s decision from the Vermont Labor Relations Board makes it clear the Labor Relations Board is broken, and a fair, unbiased process is impossible with the present Board makeup.
“The facts of the case, the precedent, the existing – union-negotiated – telework policy, state statute and the constitution are clear the State acted appropriately in setting a minimum in-office standard for state employees. No one could thoughtfully and objectively review the facts and documentation the State presented – alongside the convoluted and changing arguments the Union presented – and come to this conclusion.
“Worse than the decision itself is the path forward it presents, which is to roll back all the work and progress of the last several months and ask Vermont taxpayers to pay for the commuting costs and other expenses incurred as a result of working in the office. We find this to be an unacceptable outcome for the people of Vermont.
“Given the harm to Vermonters and our operations, and the extremely dangerous precedent this decision sets for future governors, we will appeal this flawed, biased decision made by a non-judicial Board outside the court of law.
“Governor Scott firmly believes our standard balances the interests of state employees with Vermonters’ expectations and our goals for team collaboration and communication. While he recognizes some of our employees disagree with our approach, he continues to see it as essential to our service to Vermonters and building strong, collaborative teams across agencies and departments.”
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Vermont Business Magazine