University of Vermont Medical Center administrators and the hospital’s unionized nurses reported some progress after contract talks resumed Tuesday evening, the first round negotiations following a two-day strike earlier this month.
The union and management reached “tentative agreements” on two issues related to pay. But union leaders said there’s still no overall agreement on a new wage structure, which has been a key sticking point in months-long negotiations at Vermont’s largest hospital network.
Two more negotiating sessions have been scheduled for Aug. 1 and Aug. 13.
“This all comes down to a choice for the hospital – continue to have an unacceptably high nurse vacancy rate, or pay well enough so that nurses want to be hired and stay at (UVM Medical Center) so that every patient has safe, prompt care,” union President Laurie Aunchman said.
Eileen Whalen, the hospital’s president, said medical center management was “pleased to return to the bargaining table…and make some progress. We look forward to continuing the dialogue and reaching a fair agreement as soon as possible.”
The hospital and the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals began talks in late March, but the union’s contract expired July 9 without a deal. The union represents about 1,800 licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners at the hospital.
Staffing and wages have been the two obstacles to a new contract.
The union says nurses have been underpaid for years, leading to persistent staff vacancies, nurse burnout and gaps in care as patient needs become more acute.
Hospital administrators counter that their raise proposal — 13 percent over a three-year contract, versus the union’s 23 percent request — is fair. They also say their vacancy rate is on par with other hospitals as health care institutions across Vermont struggle to recruit staff.
Nurses began a 48-hour strike on July 12 and returned to work the morning of July 14. Some elective surgeries were canceled during the work stoppage, but UVM administrators kept most hospital functions going by paying an estimated $3 million to import hundreds of replacement nurses.
The two sides agreed to return to the table Tuesday for the first negotiating session since the strike. Afterward, hospital administrators said they had “signed two tentative agreements and proposed language changes on three other articles.”
The union said those tentative agreements cover nurses who work per diem – in other words, those who don’t have fixed schedules – and urgent pay. In the union’s now-expired contract, urgent pay is defined as “additional compensation for … employees who work additional hours when unusual circumstances occur.”
A union spokesman said they were pleased with both of those agreements. But nurses said they were disappointed that hospital management did not offer a new wage proposal.
“The union maintains that safe patient care hinges on attracting and retaining nurses and is prepared to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes, to secure a contract that addresses chronic understaffing,” union leaders said in a statement issued Wednesday.
