Nurses and the administration at the University of Vermont Medical Center have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.
The agreement was reached early Saturday morning after three final negotiation sessions and two rallies at which community members and politicians spoke out in favor of the nurses.
Michael Carrese, spokesperson for the UVM Medical Center, said that it is now up to the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals to ratify the agreement.
Neither side can reveal the details of the agreement until the contract is ratified, Carrese said.
Laurie Aunchman, interim president of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, said that despite the tentative deal, nothing is cast in stone. It will take a full vote of the membership for the contract to be ratified, she said.
“It goes without saying that the recommendations of the bargaining team are that they ratify the contract, but it’s really now up to membership,” Aunchman said.
The membership of the nurses’ union has three days to vote, beginning Tuesday, she said.
“It’s like with any negotiation — both sides have their position and a tentative agreement was reached by the hospital and the bargaining team and these proposals now are being presented to the membership and the membership has the right to vote a yes or no,” Aunchman said.
In addition to the Wednesday rally at which state legislators and a city councilman spoke out in favor of the nurses, Speaker of the House Shap Smith joined hundreds of nurses and their community members Friday night as they rallied in order to avert a strike, according to a news release.
