After Receiving 20% Wage Increases Over the Last 2 Years, Union Rejects Hospital’s Proposal of Additional 20% Wage Increases Over Coming 3 Years;
Vermonters Cannot Afford Cost of Union’s Current Proposal
VermontBiz Patients and families will continue to receive safe, high-quality care at the University of Vermont Medical Center during a planned five-day nursing strike, if one occurs starting July 12. Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals has given hospital leaders a required 10-day strike notice.
UVM Medical Center has put in motion plans to bring in professional external staff, and if needed, reschedule certain elective procedures. 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.
“I was saddened to have our 10th bargaining session end with the union informing us they would file a strike notice, as we have continued to work to reach an agreement,” said Peg Gagne, Chief Nursing Officer at the UVM Medical Center. “Being a nurse leader here six years ago during the 2018 strike, I know how devastating the impacts can be on the caring community that we have worked so hard together to rebuild. I will continue to work to do whatever I can to avoid that outcome. At the same time, I want our community to know that we are prepared.”
“We have put forward a proposal that is competitive, serious, and designed to continue the progress we’ve been making on recruitment and retention, and we have adjusted that proposal as we work to reach an agreement,” said Stephen Leffler, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer of UVM Medical Center. “While I do still have sincere hope that we can collaborate to reach an agreement and avert a strike – and I share the sentiment with many of our staff and community members that another strike would be painful and difficult for all of us – we have to be ready the moment a strike begins to care for our patients and community, and we will be.”
“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. The hospital’s proposal balances our commitment to our nurses with the needs of our patients, community and thousands of other employees.”
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
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
Maintaining Operations
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. Provider offices will communicate directly with patients if there is a need to reschedule appointments.
Background:
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.
- 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.
About the University of Vermont Medical Center
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a 499-bed tertiary care regional referral center providing advanced care to approximately 1 million residents in Vermont and northern New York. Together with our partners at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, we are Vermont’s academic medical center. The University of Vermont Medical Center also serves as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a member of The University of Vermont Health Network, an integrated system established to deliver high-quality academic medicine to every community we serve.
For more information visit www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenter or visit our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog sites at www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenterSocialMedia.
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