Vermont Business Magazine After more than ten months of organizing, 79% of Support Staff at Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC)on Thursday voted yes (244-66) to formalize their union.
Ashley Copeland, LNA and union organizing committee member, said, “Today we voted to form our union to be able to advocate for ourselves, our colleagues, and our patients, and to bargain for improvements that will benefit everybody: things like experience-based pay scales, work flexibility, safe staffing ratios, and more transparency and communication with our management. As support staff, we are the foundation of CVMC, and we know that when we have a voice at work, we will be able to show up better for our patients and their families.”
Once the votes are certified, Support Staff will begin the process of bargaining their first contract with the CVMC administration.
According to Patient Service Specialist and union organizing committee member Spencer Starr, “We are looking forward to having a place at the bargaining table so that we can make improvements that will enable us to be both better workers and better community members. We are passionate about our jobs, and we value being in service to our central Vermont community, so we are hoping to work collaboratively with the CVMC administration to come to mutually beneficial agreements that will impact our community positively.”
The Support Staff union victory comes just over a year after the Nurses & Technical Professionals at CVMC won their union election, officially establishing Central Vermont Healthcare United (CVHU).
Amanda Mills-Brown, RN and President of CVHU, congratulated her colleagues on their win, saying, “We are so proud of our support staff for their organizing efforts. Their persistence and strength is paying off. We could not do our jobs without them, and they deserve to earn wages that allow them to care for themselves and their families. They deserve to work in a safe and healthy environment. We look forward to celebrating this win and supporting them through the bargaining process.”
Central Vermont Healthcare United is a union of over 500 Nurses and Technical Staff at Central Vermont Medical Center. 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 Medical Center. https://AFTVermont.org
Source: 9.5.2024. AFT Vermont
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