Petition for an Election of a Collective Bargaining Representative Rejected For Failure to Provide Justification for its Late Filing

In In re: New England Police Benevolent Association, 2015 VT 51 (March 27, 2015), the Vermont Supreme Court upheld the rejection of a petition to elect a collective bargaining representative because there was no justification provided for the untimely filing.

Issue: Petitioner appealed when its petition for an election of a collective-bargaining representative was dismissed for failure to provide justification for its untimely filed petition.

Holding: Affirmed. Under the contract-bar doctrine, absent justification, the petition must be filed between 150 and 120 days prior to the date the General Assembly convenes in regular session for the year during which the collective bargaining agreement expires. Petitioner’s filing was untimely, and the Vermont Supreme Court agreed that it failed to provide relevant justification for the untimely filing.