State workers should be allowed remote work [Video]

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s largest public employees union is looking to extend a challenge to Gov. Jim Pillen’s return-to-office mandate to the state’s Supreme Court. 

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees (NAPE), appealed a July decision issued by the Commission of Industrial Relations that determined Pillen’s executive branch is allowed “to unilaterally change work sites” for state employees. The case will now be heard by the Nebraska Supreme Court. 

“We’ve made the decision to appeal not to debate the virtues of remote work, but rather to protect our member’s right to negotiate and to obtain clarity from Nebraska’s high court on when the state must negotiate the terms and conditions of employment,” NAPE Executive Director Justin Hubly said in a press release.

Back in November, Pillen signed an executive order requiring state employees to return to working in their offices. The order called for employees to work in their offices from …