Vermont Business Magazine After four months of organizing, today a majority of the roughly 150 Registered Nurses at Northwestern Medical Center (NMC) in St Albans voted 72-45 to formalize their union. Emily Millman, RN and union organizing committee member, said, “Today the nurses spoke loud and clear– we want to be part of the decision-making team at NMC. We want safe, compassionate, excellent care for our patients. We want our little hospital to be the pride of our community– not least because most of us and our families are part of this community.
As the “boots on the ground” at NMC, nurses have daily insight into the needs of our community members, and we plan to negotiate for a contract that honors experience and supports recruitment and retention of our own local nurses. We are excited to work together with the NMC administrators to build a culture of consistency, transparency and trust– by taking care of the nurses, the nurses can take better care of our community.”
Once the votes are certified, RNs will begin the process of bargaining their first contract with the NMC administration.
According to Emily Sherwin, Registered Nurse on the Progressive Care Unit and union organizing committee member, “We voted yes to having a seat at the table for equal decision making, advocating for our colleagues, ourselves, and most importantly, our patients. We plan to bargain for things such as consistent policies, equitable treatment, experience-based pay scales, work flexibility, safe staffing ratios, and more transparency and communication with our management. As Nurses, we are the foundation of NMC, and we look forward to having a place at the bargaining table. We are passionate about our jobs, and we value being in service to our Franklin County community. We are hoping to work collaboratively with the NMC administration to come to mutually beneficial agreements that will impact our community positively.”
Nicole DiVita, an Ophthalmic Technician at UVMMC and president for healthcare of AFT Vermont says of this union election, “I am thrilled that Northwestern nurses now have a real voice in their workplace, and I’m thrilled to welcome them to AFT Vermont. We are the fastest growing union in the state, representing over 10,000 healthcare and higher education professionals, including nurses and health professionals at five Vermont hospitals. When healthcare workers have a voice, we raise the standard of care for our whole community.”
AFT Vermont represents 10,000 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 and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. https://AFTVermont.org
Source: 2.6.2025. AFT Vermont
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