Under a bill approved 85-to-53 by the Vermont House on Friday, teachers and municipal employees who are not members of a union would still have to pay agency fees.
Supporters argue that Vermont’s municipal and educational institutions have been unionized for years, and they say new hires have known they’re accepting a position in a union shop.
Speaking on the House floor after the vote Friday, Rep. Jean O’Sullivan, D-Burlington, said those workers have always accepted their benefits while expecting their workplace rights to be upheld.
“Many have referred to the high cost of union dues," O'Sullivan said, addressing the bill's critics. "They’ve talked about a windfall coming to the unions, and they’re right. Every union member is finally getting a break after all of those years of paying for everybody else. I supported fair share because it’s time.”
But opponents objected to the measure, calling it government overreach. Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, said agency fees should be left to the collective bargaining process.
“It is a gross abuse of government power to force payments to a private organization by people who do not wish to join," Donahue said. "I will not participate in that abuse.”
House lawmakers voted against amendments to reform collective bargaining, ban teacher strikes and require school boards to give up their right to impose contracts.
The bill also calls for a study of how mandatory union fees might affect teacher pay.
