On January 10, the State of Nebraska moved the District Court of Lancaster County to continue the hearing on our motion to enforce the temporary relief order granted to our union by the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR) regarding remote work assignments. The hearing was initially scheduled for Friday, January 12 at 10:30am.
Over our objection, the court granted the state’s motion for a continuance and has rescheduled the hearing for Friday, January 19 at 8:30am at the Lancaster County Courthouse (575 S. 10th Street, Lincoln, Third Floor, Courtroom 34). The hearing will be open to the public and NAPE/AFSCME members are welcome to attend.
Because the hearing has been rescheduled for January 19, which is after many of our members have been directed to report in person to an office, our members may suffer direct harm next week by having to choose between following an unlawful order or risking disciplinary action by disobeying the unlawful order.
In order to guide our members and protect their rights and interests, we will host a virtual meeting on Thursday, January 11, at 7:00pm central, to go over the steps our members should take prior to the court hearing so they can be made whole if they are harmed by management’s actions. Please click here to register for the virtual meeting. This meeting is only open to NAPE/AFSCME members. If you are not a member, please stand with us by joining today.
If you are unable to attend the meeting, a recording will be available to members on our website here. Additionally, we will send an email update on Friday, January 12 with next steps.
Our legal case continues to be strong, and this delay will not stop us from standing firm to enforce our rights. We remain hopeful that the Governor will change his mind and negotiate with us to benefit all Nebraskans, but hope is not action. We will take every action necessary to protect each and every union member’s rights. Now is the time to stand united together.