LINCOLN–(KFOR Nov. 28)–Officials with the Nebraska Association of Public Employees have requested to meet and bargain with Governor Jim Pillen, after he issued an executive order Nov. 13 that would end remote working for state employees starting after January 1.

The union is asking Governor Pillen to respond by Dec. 12. Since Pillen’s executive order was issued, 150 state employees have since joined the union.

Nearly 3,000 state employees have been working remotely, some in that capacity way before the COVID-19 pandemic.  Pillen noted in a recent news conference about the executive order that state employees should be working  in person Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm.

“We’re running state government like a business, and the best way to do that is face to face,” Pillen told reporters last week. “I don’t believe in doing it from home.”

NAPE executive director Justin Hubly said in a news release, “While we respect the governor’s right to have a preference, the terms and conditions of employment are mandatory subjects of bargaining under both the Nebraska State Employees Collective Bargaining Act and the Industrial Relations Act.”

NAPE is planning to hold a news briefing inside the Capitol’s Rotunda on Dec. 7