Nurses employed by University of Vermont Medical Center who are part of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals contract voted to ratify a new three-year contract for nursing staff this past weekend. The contract includes a 23% wage increase for nurses over the next three years.
Nursing employees’ wage increases will happen as follows:
- After ratification: 5% wage increase
- October 2024: 6% wage increase
- October 2025: 5% wage increase
- October 2026: 7% wage increase
In addition to wages, the contract includes:
- Added pay for nurses when they are assigned as charge nurse on their floor, overseeing the operations of the unit while working alongside the team
- New health and safety provisions
- Expanded career advancement funds
- Changes to how the organization recognizes past experience of newly hired employees
- Increased wages for nurses with the longest tenure
“The changes in this new contract will further improve our already strong recruitment and retention efforts,” said Peg Gagne, RN, MSN, chief nursing officer at UVM Medical Center. “I appreciate everyone who contributed to this outcome, and I look forward to our continuing to work together in service to each other, our patients and our community.”
UVM Medical Center and VFNHP bargaining teams met over the course of three months and 12 sessions to negotiate the new contract. In later sessions, a mediator provided by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Annie Rutsky, assisted in moving the talks forward.
“I’m incredibly proud of our bargaining team,” said Stephen Leffler, MD, president and chief operating officer at UVM Medical Center. “Through their work, we successfully averted a strike and achieved a fair contract we can be proud of – one that supports our nurses while keeping in mind the high cost of living that all of our patients and community members are also facing.”
As Vermont and the nation continue to face a workforce shortage, particularly in health care, UVM Health Network is committed to providing all staff competitive wages and benefits. The health system also is investing in subsidized housing for employees, as well as a wide variety of workforce development programs to help staff advance in their careers and meet the growing needs of our patient population.
UVM Medical Center built increased cost projections for a new nursing contract into the budget submitted earlier this month to the Green Mountain Care Board for the coming fiscal year. The ratified contract exceeds those projections, and the hospital has adjusted its requested commercial rate increase by 1.40% to directly support the agreement. This is lower than the 10% additional commercial rate increase that could have been needed to cover the cost of the first year of the union’s original proposal.
The successful contract agreement also averted a five-day strike that would have carried substantial additional costs for UVM Medical Center’s people, patients and community. The hospital’s total requested commercial rate increase for FY 2025 is now 7.91%, rather than the 6.51% request submitted on July 1.
Recent History of Nurse Union Agreements:
- 2018: Three-year agreement signed with 16% increases
- 2021: Both parties agree to one-year contract extension due to pressures of COVID-19, with 3.56% increase
- 2022: Two-year agreement signed with 20% increases
- 2024: Three-year agreement ratified with 23% increases
- Combined with the contract signed in July 2022, nurses will be receiving raises of 43% over the four-year period between October 2022 and October 2026.