Burlington Police Sergeants, Lieutenants File Petition to Unionize

The City of Burlington is opposing an effort by police higher-ups to form a union.

If given the go-ahead by the Vermont Labor Relations Board, the department's 15 sergeants and lieutenants will be able to hold an election to form a collective bargaining unit. These officers are not members of the city's existing police union, the Burlington Police Officers' Association.

A successful union drive would mean that only the Burlington police chief and two deputy chiefs would not be protected by a union.

The New England Police Benevolent Association filed a petition on behalf of the Burlington sergeants and lieutenants on March 3. The city responded on March 15, asserting that the arrangement would be “problematic” as lieutenants serve as sergeants' direct supervisors. Further, the city wrote, the state labor board ordered sergeants and lieutenants removed from the existing police union in 2001 “because they are supervisory employees.”

Read more: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2021/03/25/burlington-police-sergeants-lieutenants-file-petition-to-unionize