[U][niversity of Vermont Medical Center nurses will begin a 48-hour strike at 7 a.m. Thursday after last-minute talks failed to produce a new contract Wednesday night.
The hospital has said it cancelled some elective surgeries but will otherwise operate as normal with hundreds of temporary nurses brought in for the strike.
The 1,800-member nurses’ union announced its decision around 10:30 p.m., saying hospital President Eileen Whalen โwalked away from the bargaining tableโ to end negotiations.
“Beginning tomorrow morning, nurses will maintain a 48-hour continual picket at the main hospital campus in Burlington and limited pickets at outpatient and satellite clinics,โ the union said in an statement sent out late Wednesday night.
“Wages remain the main obstacle to an agreement between the two sides,” it added.
In a statement, Whalen said she was โdisappointed the union did not change its position and continued to insist on a raise of 23 percent over the next three years.โ
โIn the end, the organization could not responsibly meet the unionโs wage demands and also meet all of the other responsibilities we have to our patients and families, our employees and the communities we serve,โ Whalen said. โNow our entire focus is on implementing our comprehensive plan to care for our patients Thursday and Friday with as little disruption as possible.โ
UVM Medical Center has brought in nearly 600 replacement nurses in an effort to maintain most hospital operations.
Some elective surgical procedures have been postponed. But emergency, trauma and urgent care services will be unaffected and available 24/7, and most outpatient appointments have been kept, administrators have said.
On Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer John Brumsted assured the Green Mountain Care Board that the hospital โwill be open for business and very well-staffed on Thursday and Fridayโ during a work stoppage.
โThe contingency planning is tight,โ Brumsted told the board. โItโs very well done.โ
Representatives of the medical center and the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals negotiated for more than three months. But they came to no agreement, and a contract covering 1,800 licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners expired Monday.
Salaries and staffing have been the sticking points.
The union says wages are too low, which means the hospital canโt recruit and retain enough staff to keep up with an increasing number of patients who have increasingly acute needs.
Medical center administrators say their nurse-vacancy rate is on par with other hospitals. They say they’ve hired 98 nurses since March, and they contend theyโve offered โfair and competitiveโ raises over the course of a proposed three-year contract.
The nursesโ union authorized a two-day strike last month, and they set a date for that strike last week. Talks continued since then, leading up to a last-ditch session that began late Wednesday afternoon.
A few hours before that negotiating session, Brumsted told Green Mountain Care Board members that it is a โtense time.โ
โBut I can assure you that, from the management side, we are at the table and will remain at the table and do everything we can to avert the strike,โ he said. โBecause thatโs not good for anybody, least of all our patients.โ
Gov. Phil Scott agreed to meet with a representative of the nursesโ union earlier on Wednesday. The union โrequested a meeting to provide the governor with their perspective,โ Scott spokesperson Rebecca Kelley said.
Prior to the announcement of a work stoppage, Kelley said the governor had remained โhopeful both sides will continue to negotiate to reach an agreement that mitigates any harmful impact on patients, which is everyoneโs top priority.โ
The nursesโ union has received support from a number of public officials including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. About 20 labor and social-justice organizations also have rallied in support of the nurses.
Hospital administrators have said they don’t expect picketers to impede patient or staff access to any facilities.
