By Guy Page
The nurses’ union for the University of Vermont Medical Center announced today it will go on strike July 12-16, if contract negotiations are unsuccessful. The current contract expires July 9.
In a statement issued today, the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (VFNHP) cites unfair labor practices and a lack of data transparency on the part of the hospital.
“The call to strike comes in protest of numerous unfair labor practices by UVMMC and a refusal by the hospital to provide transparency in its data acquisition on financial proposals,” the statement said. “VFNHP also believes that the hospital’s bargaining team is not actually a group that has been given decision making authority.
“All of our Union’s decision-makers have showed up every week to craft our proposals and communicate with our membership, unpaid, on top of all their work at the bedside,” said Deb Snell, President of VFNHP.
“The hospital pays people a lot of money to crunch their numbers, and they don’t have enough respect for their nurses to explain why they think it’s not worth it for the hospital to recruit, retain and ensure nurses can afford to live here.”
While the Union has moved significantly on most of their proposals, UVMMC’s bargaining team has not, the VFNHP said. The nurses scheduled two last-minute bargaining sessions, including a 10-hour session last Friday and a session Monday night in the hopes to avoid a strike, the statement claimed.
A UVMMC statement assured that “patients and families will continue to receive safe, high-quality care.” UVM Medical Center has put in motion plans to bring in professional external staff, and if needed, reschedule certain elective procedures, the hospital said.
Patients will be contacted by their provider if they will be impacted. As a Level I Trauma Center, the academic medical center provides life-saving critical care to our region, and Emergency Department, ICU, NICU, and other vital services will remain operational. Clinical and operational leaders will stand up a 24/7 incident command structure for the duration.
Hospital President Stephen Leffler acknowledged the high cost of living for nurses and patients alike.
“We know that the cost of living in Vermont, especially the Chittenden County area, is high,” Leffler continued. “But our patients are shouldering that burden too, and Vermonters cannot afford a more than $100 million contract, as proposed by the nurses’ union.”
UVM Medical Center current proposal:
- 20% wage increases over the three-year contract
- Increased additional special pay, differentials and benefits
- Addition of new “steps” for nurses – currently, nurses receive a 2% wage increase every year, as they move up a “step.” Nurses above Step 24 currently receive an annual 2% bonus, but it does not compound as a wage increase. Our proposal would create Steps 25-27, so that our longest-serving expert nurses can continue to grow their wages.
- Provisions for improved safety
- Proposal puts approximately $70 million toward nursing wages
The hospital also described the current VFNHP current proposal:
- 31% wage increases over the three-year contract
- Detail: 3% immediately on ratification; 10% on October 1, 2024; 6% on October 1, 2025; 6% on October 1, 2026; 2% annual step increases each year = 31%
- Cost is well above $100 million
UVM Medical Center has contracted with a nursing staffing agency to bring in contingency nurses to join teams throughout the hospital – both in its inpatient and outpatient settings.
Now that the hospital has been served with a 10-day strike notice, the hospital must begin significantly increasing payments to this firm. This includes spending funds that cannot be redistributed back to nurses or other staff in a contract. Clinical and operational leaders will coordinate operations through an incident command center for the duration of the strike.
Nurses at UVM Medical Center are represented by VFNHP. In April 2024, bargaining sessions began to negotiate a new three-year contract that extends into July 2027. The current contract expires July 9.
The hospital also provided a history of contract bargaining with the nurses’ union:
- 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 would run through 2027; hospital has proposed 20% increases
- Combined with the contract signed in July 2022, nurses would be receiving raises of 40% over the 4-year period between October 2022 and October 2026.
Content and phrasing for this story was sourced mostly from statements provided by UVMMC and the VFNHP.