Vermont Business Magazine Negotiations on a new union contract between the University of Vermont Medical Center and its nurses and technical professionals fell apart late last week. The Burlington hospital said today it would leave its final offer on the table until Friday. The hospital suffered a bitter nurses strike in 2018. The hospital said it is still financially struggling because of COVID. The nurses and professionals say they are still being paid uncompetitive wages, resulting in ongoing recruitment and retention problems. The nurses contract expires this spring and the technical contract in 2023.
UVMMC said in a statement today: "Our nurses and technical employees are working hard to care for our community during a time of sustained high patient volumes, a COVID-19 surge, a nationwide health care staffing shortage, and challenging finances for hospitals across the country. Although the existing contract we have with the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals does not expire until July 2022, UVM Medical Center leadership proposed two days of voluntary discussions to enable us to provide wage increases and certainty on a new contract now, rather than several months from now as scheduled.
"UVM Medical Center leadership proposed a 10% average wage increase for nurses in January 2022; 5% in the second year, and 5% in the third year. We also offered a $5,000 stabilization bonus to our Technical employees, excluding imaging techs, who just signed a contract. This proposal ensured that we could provide increased pay to our nursing and technical employees in January – rather than October, as would occur under the existing contract – while remaining responsible stewards of limited health care dollars necessary to weather current and future pandemic surges and other challenges; it also provided the certainty of a contract extension for our staff, patients and community. The union did not accept this proposal and we were not able to come to an agreement last week. We closed by leaving our final offer on the table until Friday, December 17."
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.
The VFNHP released the following statement on Friday, December 10: "An attempt between VFNHP, the union that represents nurses and technical professionals at UVM Medical Center, and the UVMMC administration to negotiate an interim agreement to help to recruit and retain healthcare professionals ended today with no agreement.
"The Union, in an attempt to reach a deal, offered 10% for all nurses in January 2022 (which was part of the administration’s offer) and a $5,000 retention bonus over the next year for all technical professionals (the administration’s proposal excluded several hundred techs).
"The UVMMC administration rejected the Union’s proposal, saying the only way they would agree to 10% for all nurses in January 2022 is if the Union locked its members into a multi-year deal that would prevent nurses from bargaining additional wage increases until July of 2024.
“It is very disappointing that our administration is so incredibly short-sighted in these negotiations. When the nurses went out on strike in 2018, it was because we knew our wages were not competitive and we remain 48th out of 50 states for nursing salaries adjusted for cost of living,” said Deb Snell, RN and President of VFNHP.
"There are over 300 traveling nurses and techs who cost three to five times as much as local nurses and techs.
"The VFNHP Nurse and Tech negotiation teams vowed to continue organizing for the wage, benefit and working condition improvements needed to recruit and retain staff and provide quality care.
"According to Sarah Girome, “We know that the UVMMC Administration can do better. We’re going to fight until our members get the respect they deserve so our patients can get the quality care they deserve.”
"VFNHP represents over 2000 nurses and 600 technical professionals. Nurses will be bargaining a new contract in the spring of 2022 and Technical Professionals will be bargaining a new contract in the winter of 2023."
Sources: BURLINGTON – VFNHP. 12.10.2021. University of Vermont Medical Center www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenter 12.15.2021