RUTLAND – Rutland’s school board committed an unfair labor practice in its protracted contract talks by threatening to fire nearly 20 teachers unless they accepted the board’s latest offer to reach a settlement, the teachers’ union said in a filing today before the Vermont Labor Relations Board.
The Rutland Education Association said in its filing that by tying layoffs to bargaining, the school board was coercive, retaliatory, anti-union, and acting in bad faith. The board “committed an unfair labor by interfering with, restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of their rights to collectively bargain and engage in concerted union activity,” the filing said. The board has “created a climate of coercion by [laying off] employees based on the REA’s bargaining position and blaming the REA for the [layoffs].”
Rutland’s teachers have been working without a contract since July, despite initiating talks with the board in December 2023. Earlier this month, a neutral factfinder issued his report and made recommendations for a three-year contract that the union immediately accepted.
“Instead of taking our lead and agreeing to accept the terms of the neutral factfinder, the board announced the layoffs and trashed the factfinder,” said Sue Tanen, president of the Rutland Education Association. “It’s really too bad that instead of agreeing with us and reaching a settlement, the board is engaging in unlawful behavior, instilling fear in the community, and needlessly prolonging contract talks.”
The unfair labor practice filing said that by suggesting that the layoffs could be averted if the teachers just accepted the board’s latest offer was a clear indication of bad-faith bargaining. Indeed, the filing notes that the board is using layoffs as a threat – as students are already being placed in the classes of teachers who received layoff notices.
“It is clear that the employer is planning to recall teachers regardless of the settlement but using the threat of [layoffs] to create a climate of coercion with REA members,” the filing said.
Tanen said that despite the board’s actions she remains hopeful that the parties can reach a fair settlement. “We urge the board to come back to the table and stay there until we reach a deal,” she said. “We should be airing our disagreements at the bargaining table. The students in our district deserve no less.”
You can read the filing right here.
