Governor Albert Bryan on Friday announced St. Thomas Attorney and former Acting-Chief Negotiator Joss Springette as Chief Negotiator for the Office of Collective Bargaining.
According to a Government House release, Ms. Springette, who currently serves as general counsel for the Virgin Islands Public Services Commission, is a graduate of the University of the Virgin Islands and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
She is also a former assistant attorney general-labor at the Office of Collective Bargaining where she represented the central government in labor and employment matters in arbitration, mediation and before the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), and local and federal courts, according to Government House.
“A productive relationship with our public sector employees is critical to our success as a government. Attorney Springette knows the issues and has the institutional knowledge along with the energy to represent the Government of the Virgin Islands in labor mediation and arbitration and I am grateful for her service and look forward to working with her,” Mr. Bryan said.
The Office of Collective Bargaining serves as the exclusive representative for the executive branch, and its departments and agencies, in all collective bargaining proceedings. The office assists the governor in the formulation of labor policies and strategies for collective bargaining and coordinates the government’s position in labor mediation, arbitration, civil and administrative proceedings.
Ms. Springette is a member of the Virgin Islands Bar Association, Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), Government House made known. The release said she spent two years in private practice at the Law Offices of Claudette V. Ferron and Law Offices of Clive Rivers, representing clients in landlord/tenant, family, civil, criminal, appellate and probate matters.