A five-day strike has been called off by members of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals at Burlington, Vt.-based UVM Medical Center after the union reached a tentative agreement with hospital management to bring a 23% wage increase over the next three years.
"University of Vermont Medical Center is very pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on wages with the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals in the new three-year contract we are negotiating for our nursing staff," a spokesperson for UVMMC said in a July 4 statement shared with Becker's.
The union, which represents 1,900 nurses at the medical center, shared plans to hold the strike in early July to protest hospital labor practices and the hospital's refusal to provide data acquisition transparency regarding financial proposals.
An initial hospital 20% wage increase proposal over the next three years was rejected by the union after the hospital said it would be unable to meet the union's wage increase proposal of 31% across three years.
Along with the agreed upon 23% wage increase, an additional step will be added each year of the contract to the top of the step scale, according to a July 3 union news release shared with Becker's.
"This is the largest wage increase nurses at UVMMC have seen in the 21 year history of the union, as well as the first time steps that reward longevity have been added to the top of the scale since the formation of the union," the union release said.
A final bargaining session will be held July 8 to handle the new contract's outstanding details.
"After agreement on the full contract, the next step is for the VFNHP to lead a process for all nurses in the union to vote on ratification," the hospital spokesperson said.