Vermont Business Magazine Last Saturday afternoon, more than 100 UVMMC support staff rallied, despite consistent rain, six months after winning a landslide union election for support staff at the University of Vermont Medical Center, the region's only level one trauma center. The union said in a press release that they are pushing the UVMMC administration to come to terms that would create livable wages for all staff, would reduce consistent staffing challenges and improve patient care as a result.
Staff rallied because as bargaining team member Lou Levesque said, “we’ve heard stories of housing insecurity, inability to afford health care, violence in the workplace, and the constant stress of being overworked and underpaid. We ask to be heard. We asked to be respected. We are here today because it is clear that management is not hearing us.”
Bargaining team member Heather Bauman described the struggle boiling down to, “All staff must earn a livable wage. All staff should be safe at work. All departments should be fully staffed. We deserve to live and work in a community of care, where our needs are met and safety is a priority. If the thousands of staff who work here are not taken care of, how can we expect our patients to be? Our community deserves better.”
Bargaining continues on August 9th the union bargaining team expects to here more from management about how they intend to address livable wages, short staffing and safety at work.
UVMMC Support Staff United and new Techs joining VFNHP is a group of nearly 2400 Service, Maintenance, Clinical and Technical staff at the University of Vermont Medical Center
AFT Vermont represents 6000 healthcare and higher education professionals at the UVM Medical Center, University of Vermont, the Vermont State Colleges, Porter Medical Center, Community Health Centers of Burlington, Planned Parenthood of NNE and Brattleboro Medical Center. Vt.aft.org.
Source: AFT Vermont 7.31.2023.
