Our union committed to protecting our right to negotiate the terms and conditions of our employment when the Department of Education (NDE) unilaterally ended many remote work assignments in 2024.
Our union filed similar litigation against the State of Nebraska case affecting code and non-code agency members that is pending before the Nebraska Supreme Court. The outcome of that case may affect our NDE members. We are waiting for a decision from the high court, which may come at any time.
NDE is a constitutional agency with its own collective bargaining agreement. We filed separate litigation at the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR) for our NDE members. A trial was held at the CIR last year, and the CIR made its decision in the NDE case in late February.
The CIR agreed with our argument that remote work is not covered by our NDE collective bargaining agreement. However, without precedent under Nebraska law, the CIR found that there is no requirement to negotiate the terms and conditions of remote work because of NDE’s long standing past practice. A copy of the CIR’s decision is available here.
Because the CIR’s decision is not supported by any citation to Nebraska law or case law, we appealed the CIR’s decision. The appeal will go directly to the Nebraska Supreme Court. It is possible that the code and non-code agency Supreme Court case may resolve the NDE case sooner, however, we will proceed with a separate appeal to protect our NDE members’ right to negotiate.
We are committed to standing up for our rights in the workplace, and we will see this case through until we receive a decision in our favor or exhaust all appeals. Not a member of our union? Join us today and stand with us to protect our rights.