The employees at Bates College who cast votes on a union election more than a year ago have rejected a proposed union.
Bates employees voted in the union election in January 2022. But the ballots were not counted until Thursday, when National Labor Relations Board staffers unsealed the ballots.
The union effort failed by a vote of 254 against, with 186 ballots cast for the union, according to the Lewiston Sun Journal.
The ballot count was delayed because the school filed a request to review the structure of the union and its inclusion of all Bates staff and non-tenure faculty. A previous rule required that the election ballots be held and impounded while the board reviews the college’s request.
But Bates organizers called on the National Labor Relations Board to unseal the ballots after the board rescinded a rule that opened the door to a ballot count.
Further information about Bates’ union vote was not available immediately on Thursday afternoon.
