Solidarity with Northwestern Nurses

I believe in them pure and simple. Our union stood tall and proud in support of each other, sharing the love and support.—Pamela Munsell, RN, Adult Primary Care South Burlington, UVMMC

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I worked at NMC for over 5 years. Despite making more money per hour there, I still left. I left because of managements practices. It’s very much a small town good old boys club where favoritism reigns. There is no fairness and equality for employees. Discipline and raises are based on how solid your friendship is with the current boss. Constantly forced to “be flexible” and take more patients per nurse than was safe. Allowed to be treated like trash by patients and families with administration not supporting their nurses because of their concerns for a bad patient survey. Taking care of patients that were too sick to be in that hospital. It wasn’t worth it. And the bullying they are all seeing from management to union bust, well it’s been there all along, just before it was done with a smile. Go NMC nurses! You will only get real and lasting change with a union. You’re still fighting for the same things you were fighting for in 2011 and when I left in 2017.—Bonnie Dubois, RN, OR, UVMMC
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Nurses are among the most visible faces in health care and the people that spend the most time with the people needing care. It seems they are also the last group that organizations try to do anything to improve their work conditions. It is not unusual for them to be expected to work long hours and short staffed and still give high quality patient care. Without our union, that is what was happening at the facility I work in. They certainly spent a lot of time and money trying to scare nurses away from forming the union. I stand in support of my brothers and sisters, and encourage anti union activity to be stopped.—Verna Thomsen, PFNHP, Porter Medical Center
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Nurses are the backbone of any hospital and when you need care they are on the front line. That’s why they not only should have the resources to do the job but they must be compensated as well. Joining a union will not only provide that but by standing strong together you will be in the decision making of the care of your patients. You and the administration will work as a team.—Dennis LaBounty, Political Director, Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO

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Nurses need to be able to organize around issues of patient safety and management errors without fear of reprisal.—Kenneth Eardley, RN, UNAP Local 5109 (Copley Hospital)
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They deserve to have a union that will fight for them!—Kristen Hendrie, NYSNA
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There needs to be some kind of check & balance system at NMC to curtail the horrific behavior of the management there. Management functions "like the good old boys" & terminates or blacklists employees at will. Inexperienced nurses are placed in charge & make decisions that experienced nurses would never make, management does this because the new nurses do not question management decisions. Meanwhile, experienced nurses are blacklisted & demoted when they voice opposing views from management. The nurses & patients will benefit GREATLY from a union—Maureen Matthews, RN, OBGyn, UVMMC
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As President of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) Northeast Region, I stand unequivocally with the nurses as they exercise their right to organize. I am looking forward to a resounding yes vote as these workers secure their place at the table to bargain over improvements compensation and working conditions. UE members of the Northeast are ready to support the nurses as they achieve a first contract, and will stand with them in every year going forward. We are with you in solidarity.—Elizabeth Jesdale, President, UE Northeast Region

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We as nurses need to have a voice not only for ourselves but for patient safety, staffing safety and as well as fair wages. Our union has been a tremendous help. We need to know, as nurses and human beings we matter.—Lisa Lovely, RN, Porter Medical Center
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Vermont State Employees Association, Springfield Vermont Chapter stands with the Nurses of Northwestern in their fight to organize!—Joey Holmes, President, VSEA Springfield Chapter

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NMC's nurses deserve representation and a fair contract.—Kyle Bedard, UVMHN, Porter Medical Center

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I support the nurses because they deserve to be treated with respect. The union allows them to speak collaboratively as a group and hold the hospital accountable for their actions. Nurses are the backbone of healthcare industry and deserve safe staffing for the patients! I stand with my fellow nurses!!! Don't give up, keep pushing for everything you deserve!—Kristy Wyckoff, UVMMC
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Count me in support!—Sara Jane Crow, RN, Physiatry-ORC, UVMMC

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I am writing to you to support the vote for unionizing. Your nurses deserve it, and collectively you need a voice for your concerns! I have been a very strong union supporter and part of my union for almost 24 years. I am vice chair of my bargaining unit, and have pushed for progress in the unit. We collectively have made our voices heard. Unions that are strong and used to demand what is right are going to change the hospital for the better.—Beth Aiken, Vermont State Employees Association

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You won’t regret knowing you have the support and guidance of a strong UNION.—Tanya Delp, RN, Pre-Op, UVMMC
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To the Nurses at Northwestern Medical Center: I have been a nurse here at UVMMC for over 20 years. Unionizing was the best thing that we could have ever done.

The hospital is not going to suddenly start treating it’s staff better or paying you better wages because it is the right thing to do. But they will if you come together, rise up and use your voices as one to advocate for yourselves and your patients. Good luck!—Natalie Carr, RN, BSN, Birthing Center, UVM Medical Center
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We stand in solidarity with you! Together we can be strong—validated, and appreciated for our work.—Linda Bruno, LPN, Pediatrics Primary Care
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To the strong nurses of NMC: You are stronger together. I was one of the many nurses that worked to win our right to organize collectively, and it wasn’t easy. Management tried to intimidate and trick us at every possible moment. The more vocal and visible we became, though – the less impact the hospital’s union-busting methods had on us. Their intimidation didn’t work because we stayed strong.

Keep talking with one another, keep organizing, and know that you will never have truly empowered voices until you have legally recognized union powers to stand up for patient safety, safe staffing, and safe working conditions.

Your union win will also ripple through other services in the hospital. You are not just fighting for yourselves, you are fighting for your patients and for your community.

You’ve got this, and you have thousands of nurses and other health professionals behind you in solidarity.—Mari Cordes, RN, McClure 5, UVMMC
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Solidarity! Stay strong, you deserve this!—Lara Hilgerdt, RN, Baird 4, UVMMC
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As professors in a union shop, we always say that our working conditions are our students' learning conditions. The same can be said for nurses, your working conditions are your patients' healing conditions. It is so important that nurses have a say in those working conditions. Nurses need a seat at the table.—Linda Olson, VSCFF, VP of Higher Education, AFT VT
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We have your back!—Glenn Fredenbert, RN, Baird 3, UVMMC
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Nurses organized our union at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital over 30 years ago--and we have never regretted that decision.

Nurses organized our   union at Brattleboro   Memorial Hospital over 30 years ago--and we have never regretted   that decision.  By joining together, and working with the administration when we have the shared goals of quality patient care, we have been able to make   Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, a truly exceptional  community hospital where nurses are consistently treated with Respect.

We voted YES, and encourage you to stand up for your patients and your community and vote YES too—Stacy Chickering, RN President of Brattleboro Federation of Nurses and Health Professional
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I am a UVMMC nurse, and I stand behind you.—Kitty Emerson, RN, Continence Center
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The difference between the way the Porter administration treats  RNs now and the way that they treated us before and during our union election is like NIGHT and DAY.

Now, we are truly equal partners in providing quality patient care in a community hospital. ​It wasn't easy, because our hospital administration didn't want to share power with us, but it was worth it. 

We know that when you VOTE YES, it will be YES for your patients, for your community and for yourselves.—Linda Savalli, RN President of Porter Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals
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Just like us, NMC nurses will soon have the opportunity to join with nurses in Vermont and  across the country who have decided ​to come together and take a leadership role in their hospital. We know all  decisions about patient care are better when nurses are organized and have an equal voice  with the administration.

We understand that the scale of UVMMC is  different, but the principle is the same. Our union creates a democracy with checks and balances. Democracy makes it harder for administrations and so they oppose our joining together to form our unions.

They will tell you nurses can make change in other ways. But it is not the same​. We have shared governance,but it does not replace the strength of a union of nurses who sit down and negotiate as equals.—Deb Snell, RN President of AFT Vermont Exec VP of Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals
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Supporting you!! Nurses ARE Healthcare! Solidarity!—Kim DeForge Cronin, RN Colchester Family Medicine
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UVMMC stands with you in solidarity—Deb Puckett Morrits, RN Birthing Center, UVMMC
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In solidarity—Corey Bennett, RN, Baird 6, UVMMC
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When I go to work, I do not doubt that I will have the tools, patient ratios, and support I need to provide safe patient care. I know what my pay, benefits, and CTO are and that they can not be arbitrarily changed.  If I have to speak up because I am concerned about a patient's care, I am not worried about retribution. Why? Because nurses at UVM Medical Center have our own union and union contract.

So do nurses at Porter, Brattleboro, Rutland, Copley, the State Hospital, and Brattleboro Retreat.

Hospital administrations oppose nurses forming unions because they know it means sharing some power. If management wants to change our benefits, staffing ratios, or pay, they have to bargain with us and every nurse gets a vote. It can't just be imposed.

Our management attempted intimidate us before our vote to form our union, and we overcame it. You can too. I am excited that you have the opportunity to vote YES for yourselves and your patients.—Jason Serota-Winston, RN, SICU/PICU, AFT Vermont VP for Healthcare
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I have worked as both an inpatient and an outpatient nurse at UVM Medical Center, and am currently the Nurse Clinician at Williston Adult Primary Care, During the last round of negotiations with the UVMMC administration, I sat at the front table to ensure that our issues were taken seriously by the administration.

Because of our Union:
* we were able to negotiate a career ladder that allows us to move up based on clear criteria--not based on favoritism and budget "constraints."
* an outpatient float pool to cover nurses who are absent
* wage increases of 16-28% over the next three years

As the demands of outpatient nursing has grown more complicated, it has become increasingly important that we have the support of our union colleagues in pushing for additional staff or dealing with a supervisor who doesn't understand what nurses do.

Congratulations on your upcoming Union election--I know your administration would rather be able to continue to make unilateral decisions about your working conditions, but the only real way to have a voice and a vote is by voting YES for yourselves and for your patients.—Tracy Fornasier, RN, Williston Adult Primary Care
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At UVMMC our union has negotiated clear staffing ratios based on acuity by unit. ​​As a union we also have strength and mechanisms to hold our administration accountable to our agreed upon ratios.

We all want the best staffing for our patients. Voting to form our union at NMC and bargaining as equals is the way forward for delivering quality patient care.—Heather Cutting, RN, NMC Progressive Care Unit, UVMMC Surgical Intensive Care Unit.
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Having worked at both a union and non- union hospital in critical care areas I find comfort in knowing that taking more patients than is safe to have is an exception and not an expectation in a union environment. Nurses do what is needed to take care of patients and make sure they are free from harm.

However, I like to have support from my peers and the union to ensure these circumstances happen far less frequently. When they do occur, there is a process in place for accountability. This is only one part of the union: we will have the voice to change things for the better via a contract. ​

Let’s not be fooled once again in “promises” to make things better. Let’s make it happen.—Cammie Ashley, RN, NMC Ambulatory PACU, UVMMC Medical Intensive Care Unit
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Why my UVMMC union has made me a stronger, more confident nurse:  

● Detailed job description for your  position that is fair and enforced, so you are not forced to practice outside of your scope due to unit and hospital needs

● Fairness and equality with a system of seniority so that all staff members are on the same page when it comes to scheduling, vacations, time off, on-call schedules and being moved from nights to days

● Policy and procedure changes are nursing regulated and can’t change overnight when new administrators and managers are brought in

● Staffing ratios that are acuity and unit based for best patient and staff safety & security.—Danielle Landry, RN, NMC Progressive Care Unit, UVMMC Birthing Center
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As a nurse who has worked 10 years at UVMMC in the Surgical ICU and also works at NMC in the Emergency Department, there is a noticeable difference in how we are staffed that relates to quality patient care.

There are times in the ED I have had six patients at a time. Meanwhile I never have more than two in the SICU at UVMMC​. That’s is due to our union negotiating safe patient ratios based on acuity and the ability to hold management accountable.—Holly Stromme, RN, NMC Emergency Dept
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Patients deserve to be treated under safe conditions. Nurses deserve to work under safe conditions.----Jeanna Aube, RN, Baird 6, UVMMC
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I stand for nurses rights. Safe staffing to keep patients safe is the number one goal of the union.----Veronica Banaag RN, Resource, UVMMC
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They have a need and a right to collective bargaining. UVMMC has made many improvements in patient care thanks to our union.----Valerie Conte, RN, Mother-Baby Unit, UVMMC
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Because they are the guardians of safe patient Care. Patients before profits!----Bea Disogra, RN, Neurosurgery, UVMMC
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I'm a nurse at UVMMC, nurses have each others' backs!----Judy Donofrio, RN, Vascular Access, UVMMC
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I am a nurse also and know the struggles that they are going through.----Marybeth Early, RN, OR, UVMMC
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Their goal is to provide safe, quality patient care.----Donna Evans Hirsch, RN, OBGyn, UVMMC
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They are the backbone of health care and deserve respect and fair treatment!!----Sarah Ferguson, RN, Vascular Access, UVMMC
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Safe staffing and retention of nurses is crucial to sufficient patient care- unionizing is a step in the right direction to allow nursing staff to let their voices be heard!----Briona Hall, RN, Shep 3N, UVMMC
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