State says union should use the collective bargaining agreement for records request

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The Douglas administration is urging the state workers’ union to use a provision in their labor contract, rather than Vermont’s public records law, to get access to records relating to 400 state job cuts.

But the Vermont State Employees Association is rejecting that suggestion, saying Article 6 of their contract doesn’t have the teeth that the public records law has.

The two have been in a dispute over whether the state can bill the union $1,700 dollars for access to the records kept by the Department of Human Resources.

The union says its collective bargaining agreement lacks the deadlines for responding to records requests that are contained in the public records law, and lacks the law’s provisions allowing someone denied access to records the ability to go to court.

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