Deb Snell, head of the nurses union at the University of Vermont Medical Center, announces that union members have authorized the bargaining committee to call for a strike vote if negotiations with the hospital fail during a press conference in Burlington on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Nurses at the University of Vermont Medical Center have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike as they negotiate with hospital administrators for a new contract, union representatives announced Tuesday. The results mean that union members, nearly 2,000 nurses at Vermont’s largest hospital, are prepared to walk off the job if their bargaining team calls for a work stoppage.
The Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals’ bargaining team has been negotiating a new contract since early April, asking for significant wage increases.
But with the current contract nearing its July 9 expiration, a union representative said that she and other negotiators are frustrated that the hospital’s counteroffers are still far away from what they believe is fair. The two sides will return to the bargaining table on Wednesday and Thursday.
The nurses union will bring what they hope is a powerful bargaining chip: 84.4% voted to authorize a strike, the union announced Tuesday. The vote took place from June 17 to 24 and recorded 89% turnout: 1,708 of 1,917 eligible union members voted, with 1,442 voting in favor.
The vote required only a majority to pass, but bargaining team member and emergency department nurse Eisha Lichtenstein said in an interview that the 50% threshold wasn’t the only consideration.
“The vote is also to get a sense of how the membership feels as a whole,” Lichtenstein said. “If we just got a simple majority, we wouldn’t act on that.”
“But if 80% of your nurses feel this way, then that’s something worth listening to,” she added.
Lichtenstein said that a strike remains the last resort, and would only be considered if no agreement is reached by July 9. Even after that point, federal regulations require nurses to give 10 days advance notice when they intend to strike, during which time the hospital can still make concessions to agree on a contract and prevent the work stoppage.
“We fully intend to participate in negotiations until the very last minute,” Lichtenstein said.
A spokesperson for the hospital administration wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon that they are committed to remaining at the bargaining table as well.
“However, in the event of a strike, we are prepared and have contingency plans that ensure we can continue providing care and services to patients across our region,” wrote Annie Mackin, chief spokesperson for the UVM Health Network, which includes the UVM Medical Center and two other Vermont hospitals.
“We are committed to working collaboratively and responsibly to avoid a strike,” she said.
If a strike were to occur, it could potentially be more disruptive than the last UVM Medical Center strike, in 2018. While that strike lasted two days, this week’s vote authorized the bargaining team to call for up to five days of work stoppage, Lichtenstein said. She added that if no agreement was reached within that time, they could potentially call for an additional strike after another 10-day notice period.
Nurses staged the strike in 2018 after failing to come to an agreement with the hospital on a new contract. The two days of stoppage cost the hospital an estimated $3 million, and the nurses ultimately did not get nearly the wage increases they sought. In a press conference Tuesday, union president Deb Snell said the shortcomings of the 2018 strike informed the five day maximum length of a potential strike this time around.
“We’re stronger this time, more committed,” Snell said.
In 2022, the nurses union again renegotiated its contract, agreeing on a contract just days before the previous one expired. But wages were left off the table in those negotiations, something union president Deb Snell said at the time she didn’t believe they would do again.
Now, in the latest round of contract negotiations, nurses are asking for significant wage increases over the next three years. Union negotiators argue that the hospital must pay at a more competitive rate in order to retain permanent staff and ultimately cut down on a costly reliance on traveling nurses.
“Vermonters want their community taking care of them,” Lichtenstein said, but added that at current wages, it’s difficult for nurses to take permanent positions and live in the Burlington area.
The union is asking for a 5% raise across the board upon ratification of the contract, a 15% increase to take effect in October and a 10% increase in each of the two years following, a total increase of 40% over current expectations. Mackin said the union’s ask is actually 46%, factoring in the annual 2% raises most nurses already receive.
The hospital’s counteroffers for raises currently total to 17% over the next three years, Mackin wrote, a number which she said “balances our commitment to our nurses with the needs of our patients, community and thousands of other employees.”
Mackin wrote that the union’s proposal would cost the hospital $300 million, which would require a 10% increase in charges to commercial insurers to cover.
“We are listening to our nurses and working hard to address their priorities and concerns,” Mackin wrote. “In addition to wages, we are working with the union to address a number of important issues” such as new per diem positions for nurses, funds for professional development and improving employee health and safety, she said.
Snell said at the nurses union press conference that the two sides have at least two more bargaining sessions this week, and that the hospital has expressed that they would like to be done negotiating by Friday.
“We’re alright with that, if they come prepared to truly get to work,” she added.
Lichtenstein said that the strike authorization vote was intended more as a barometer than an indication that nurses intend, or even want to strike — and she hopes hospital leadership recognizes the results as such.
“I hope they see the majority of nurses are struggling, and frustrated, and wanting to stand up for themselves,” Lichtenstein said. “I hope it helps them rethink where they put their dollars.”
This story will be updated.
Read the story on VTDigger here: As negotiations continue, UVM Medical Center nurses vote to allow strike.