Vermont Business Magazine On Friday afternoon, 4/11/25, over 500 support staff at Central Vermont Medical Center voted to ratify their first union contract, seven months after their union election. Negotiations concluded on April 4th at 2am after an 18-hour overnight bargaining session. The contract raises wages by an average 27% over the three-year contract, establishes the highest starting rate for support staff job titles in the UVM Health Network ($21/hour), provides paid time off to recover after staff are assaulted at work, lays the foundation for safer staffing, and improves job security, amongst many other provisions.
Jeanne Silva, who’s been cleaning the hospital for 6 years, said, "Support staff are the lowest paid and often worst-treated staff in a hospital. We are the first people you see - at the front desk, in patient rooms, serving family members in the cafeteria - and we’re there to clean up after everyone. Yet most of us struggle to pay groceries, rent, and utility bills. Our bodies are worn down from long shifts and working overtime. Now, we are finally going to be compensated with livable wages. We won’t have to stress about getting to the food bank before it closes after our shifts, we won’t have to work incredible amounts of overtime, and ultimately, this means we can focus on what we’re here for - caring for patients. This contract is life-changing, not only for the 500 support staff at our hospital, but for our entire community.”
Support staff will join the 500-person nursing and technical staff union - Central Vermont Healthcare United - officially securing union rights and improved working conditions for a majority of employees at CVMC.
Union President and longtime nurse Amanda Mills-Brown says, “We are thrilled to welcome the support staff, who we work with side-by-side each day, into our union. We will be even more powerful together, and I know we’ll just continue to make our hospital a better place to work and receive care.”
Central Vermont Healthcare United, AFT Vermont is now a union of over 1,000 Nursing, Technical, and Support Staff at Central Vermont Medical Center.
AFT Vermont represents over 11,000 healthcare and higher education professionals at the Central Vermont Medical Center, UVM Medical Center, University of Vermont, the Vermont State University, Bennington College, Porter Medical Center, Community Health Centers of Burlington, Planned Parenthood of NNE, Northwestern Medical Center and Brattleboro Medical Center. https://AFTVermont.org
Source: Berlin. 4.11.2025. AFTVermont.org
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