In an update to our story on Tuesday about a union election at the University of Vermont, we bring you this news: eligible UVM staff voted 339-278 in favor of forming a union.
But just which union the group of 778 staffers — lab techs, research assistants and library support staff, among others — will join is still up in the air. This week’s election included two questions: Did staff members wish to form a union? And which union would they like to join — Vermont-NEA, the state’s largest union; the unaffiliated United Staff; or neither?
The “neither” option received the most votes — 260 — likely from those who voted against unionizing in the first place. The NEA finished second with 183 votes. The two top choices will be on the ballot for a run-off election; no date has been set yet for that vote.
The election was the largest ever conducted by the Vermont Labor Relations Board. According to UVM staffer and union organizer Michele Patenaude, it was also the first time a group of eligible UVM employees voted to unionize on their first try. Faculty, service and maintenance workers, and campus security officers are all part of nationally-affiliated unions, but Patenaude says all of those groups faced multiple elections before successfully unionizing.
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