It was hard for Deb Snell to leave her job as an ICU nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center for two days in 2018.
“When I walked out, I cried,” she said. “But I also knew that ultimately what we were doing was going to help us provide better care.”
She was leaving work as part of a strike planned by nursing staff to push for better wages and benefits.
Now, about 1,900 nurses, nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses at the hospital, and outpatient centers across the state, are considering whether to approve another strike if their union doesn't reach a deal with hospital leadership before their contract expires on July 9.
"If you're a nurse in a Level I Trauma Center, you should be able to afford a home and pay your bills, period.”Deb Snell, Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Care Professionals
“Because we are still so far apart at the table, we reached out to our nurses and asked them, 'What do you think about the possibility of a strike?’ and it was overwhelmingly 'Yes,’” said Snell, who is also the president of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals.
The union is holding a strike authorization vote until the end of this week, before four remaining bargaining sessions.
“It doesn't mean we're going to go out on strike — we're going to do everything in our power to get a fair contract and avoid it — but if we have to, that's what we will do,” Snell said.
The bargaining team has been negotiating for a new contract since April. The main sticking point is around wages.
As a whole, Vermont ranks among the worst in the country for nursing salaries based on the cost of living.
“You've got, especially our younger nurses, picking up overtime or taking second jobs just so they can pay their student loans and their rent — that's not sustainable,” Snell said. “If you're a nurse in a Level I Trauma Center, you should be able to afford a home and pay your bills, period.”
In recent negotiations, hospital leaders offered a 17% pay increase for nurses over three years, equal to about $26 million. Meanwhile, union leadership has advocated for an immediate 5% salary increase, a 15% increase for the upcoming fiscal year, followed by two 10% increases in the subsequent years.
"We’d love to be able to pay the nurses what they’re asking, but we have to balance many competing demands with the dollars that we have."Dr. Stephen Leffler, UVMMC
Hospital leaders contend they can’t afford the union's plan, which they say would cost nearly $200 million over the three year contract — a number that reflects the entire proposal, not just wage increases.
“We’d love to be able to pay the nurses what they’re asking, but we have to balance many competing demands with the dollars that we have,” said Dr. Stephen Leffler, president and chief operating officer at the hospital.
“We have to pay all of our staff fairly — all staff expect some cost of living increase for ‘25, medication costs are going up, equipment costs are going up. We have to use our dollars responsibly to cover all those expenses,” he said.
The hospital has started planning for the possibility of a strike, which could happen as early as July 10, if approved by the union. Leffler said they would hire an external company to bring in temporary nurses, as they did in 2018.
But he's hopeful that can be avoided.
"We still have four bargaining sessions left," he said. "Without any question, our offer will evolve and get a little bit better.”
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