There are several steps in the recognition process:

1. Generating Interest -- A union will first attempt to generate interest among a group or groups of employees who share a “community of interest.” A community of interest may be as broad as “all non-represented staff employees at the University of Vermont” or it may be a more limited grouping of employees who perform a similar body of work.



2. Election Petition -- If a union can demonstrate that at least 30% of the employees who share a community of interest wish to be represented by a union, the union can petition the Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB) to hold an election. The union must demonstrate proof of employee interest by submitting union cards (or petitions) signed by at least 30% of the employees in the community of interest, as proposed by the union. The union must also submit a list of the employee positions in the proposed community of interest, even if the union has not been able to obtain signatures from all of those employees. The University must then submit a list of names of the persons holding those positions.



3. Voting Eligibility -- Once the signatures and position lists are filed with the VLRB, the University will have a specified period of time, not less than 15 days, to respond to the union’s election petition. According to Vermont law, “managerial” and “confidential” employees are not eligible to join a union and thus cannot vote in an election. “Supervisory” employees, while eligible to join a separate union, cannot belong to the same bargaining unit as the employees they supervise. The University has the right to challenge any employee and/or position on the union’s list as “managerial,” “confidential,” or “supervisory.” If the union and the University cannot agree on the list of employees eligible to vote in the election, the VLRB will hold hearings regarding the employees/positions in dispute. The ruling of the VLRB is final and will determine the roster of employees who are eligible to vote in the election. The list of employees eligible to vote will be posted well in advance of an election.



4. Election -- The VLRB is responsible for holding the election. The election can be up to six months or longer following the VLRB’s final ruling on the list of employees who are eligible to vote. If the union wins the election, the University must recognize the union as the sole representative for all of the employees in the bargaining unit, whether or not they signed a union card or voted in the election.

The statutory definitions are provided in the State Employees Labor Relations Act (SELRA) and determinations are made on a case by case basis, depending on each employee’s assigned duties. This determination process may or may not be lengthy. If the union and the University agree that an employee is "managerial" or "confidential", then the employee is not eligible to join a union or vote in the election.

If the union and the University agree that an employee is “supervisory,” then the employee is eligible to organize with other supervisory employees, but will not be able to join the same bargaining unit as the employees s/he supervises. If the union and the University disagree about whether or not an individual employee meets the established criteria in any one or more of the above categories, then the VLRB will hold hearings to review the names and job duties of all employees who are in dispute. The determination of the VLRB will be final, and the list of employees eligible to vote will be posted well in advance of an election.