Members of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals at Burlington, Vt.-based UVM Medical Center have shared plans to hold a five-day strike starting July 12.
The strike is to protest "numerous unfair labor practices by UVMMC" and the hospital's refusal to give data acquisition transparency on financial proposals, according to a July 2 VFNHP news release shared with Becker's.
Around 1,800 UVMMC nurses are represented by the union, according to a UVMMC news release shared with Becker's.
"All of our Union's decision-makers have showed up every week to craft our proposals and communicate with our membership, unpaid, on top of all of their work at the bedside," Deb Snell, RN, president of VFNHP, said in the release. "The hospital pays people a lot of money to crunch their numbers, and they don't have enough respect for their nurses to show up, explain why they think it's not worth it for the hospital to recruit, retain and ensure nurses can afford to live here."
Two bargaining sessions were scheduled on June 28 and July 1 by the union in an attempt to avoid a strike. The hospital and union have two more bargaining sessions scheduled for July 2 and July 8 in an attempt to secure a deal ahead of the contract expiration date of July 9, the union release said.
"... we either leave now temporarily, or watch even more of our best nurses leave to travel or create roots with an institution that respects them more," Ms. Snell said.
UVMMC had initially proposed a 20% wage increase over the next three years, which was rejected by the union. The hospital said it is unable to support the union's current wage increase proposal of 31% over three years.
Staff Nurse II nurses, the hospital's largest nursing group, currently have a base pay ranging from $35.75 an hour to $56.37 an hour before incentive and differential pay. An average base wage for this nursing group is $44.50 per hour, the UVMMC release said.
Over the last 18 months, the hospital has hired more than 120 new nurses, with nurse pay currently accounting for 8% of the hospital's budget.
The hospital has received a 10-day strike notice from the union and has put plans in place to bring in external staff should the strike move forward. Specific elective procedures will also be rescheduled if needed, with providers contacting any patients who might be affected.
"While I do still have sincere hope that we can collaborate to reach an agreement and avert a strike – and I share the sentiment with many of our staff and community members that another strike would be painful and difficult for all of us – we have to be ready the moment a strike begins to care for our patients and community, and we will be," Stephen Leffler, MD, president and COO of UVMMC, said in the UVMMC release.