February 20th, 2026 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
Last week, UVM Staff United Co-President gave testimony in support of S.292, a bill that would lift the prohibition on public higher education workers from going on strike.
“To be clear: in supporting this bill, we are not expressing our desire to strike. No union member wants to strike. It carries risks and requires tremendous work on the part of a union and its members. Striking requires 90% of the membership to vote yes. It is not a tool used lightly.
What having the right to strike does is to level the playing field at the bargaining table. We know that when management understands that workers can withhold our labor, there is incentive for them to bargain in good faith.
We are asking to lift the prohibition and extend to Vermont higher ed workers the same protections and rights that other unions have, notably including k-12 workers in Vermont. And we wouldn’t be alone: Public higher education workers in 11 other states have the legal right to strike.”
Earlier this week, Hospice United voted 99% in favor of ratifying their first union contract!
Hospice United workers voted to form their union last June and have been hard at work bargaining their first contract ever since. UVM Hospice is split into the McClure Miller Respite house in Colchester and the community team, who care for hospice patients in their homes. Through the bargaining process, union members have learned to appreciate and respect the work of the entire team even more and built relationships and solidarity across the unit.
Their contract incudes:
- A transparent wage scale, with average 17% increases over 2.5 years.
- New preceptor and per diem differentials, and increased differentials across the board
- Weekend work protections for family services.
- A staffing committee to create guidelines at the Respite House to be created within 90 days
- Just cause and job security protections
- Duration: Expires 3/31/28, which is within a month of the CVHU Support Staff expiration and would allow the member to join the call for a general strike on May Day 2028 if necessary.
- Election Procedure Agreement: establishes protections for the rest of UVM Home Health should they choose to organize
And MORE! Read the full TA summary here
February 6th, 2026 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
AFT Vermont Members Participate in ICE OUT protests
Last week, in the wake of the murder of Union member and nurse Alex Pretti, the murder of Renee Good, and the increase in ICE activity nationally, thousands of Vermonters took to the streets in protest. Among them, AFT Vermont Union members stood loud and proud.
January 23rd, 2026 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
Last Thursday, two AFT Vermont members gave testimony in the House Human Services committee about the impact cuts to emergency housing have had on our hospital Emergency Departments.
Kristen Bond-Watts, Emergency Department Nurse at Porter Hospital in Middlebury, highlighted the gravity of the situation:
“It doesn’t feel right to turn someone away who has nowhere to go. But our ER waiting room isn’t designed to be a shelter. People waiting there are exposed to contagious illnesses. Families are there during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
Recently, we had a patient spent three days in our single psychiatry-equipped room, only to reveal that their suicidal thoughts would resolve if someone could fix their broken pipes at home. Our nurses spent hours trying to connect them with resources.”
Amanda Meltsner, Patient Access Navigator for the Emergency Department at UVMMC, echoed Kristen’s concerns and highlighted the high cost of using Emergency Departments as shelters.
“Quite a number, I would say a large majority of the people who are unhoused, are either on medicaid, medicare, both medicaid and medicare, VA insurance, or they are just uninsured. Which means all of those visits that they are taking to our emergency department, essentially to see a doctor in order to get the OK to sleep in our department overnight…. We’re billing medicare and medicaid for those doctor hours, for those visits, for somebody to sleep in the ED. Which is not a very good use of the tax dollars we have for those people. Those dollars could be better spent in other ways.”
Click here to watch Amanda’s full testimony.
AFT Vermont members will continue to advocate for funding for emergency shelters so that we can take some of the pressure off of our Emergency Departments and ensure that our unhoused neighbors can have a safe, dedicated place to shelter from the elements.
Interested in adding your voice to this conversation? Please email lisa.gerlach@aftvermont.org
January 16th, 2026 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
PFNHP Progressive Discipline wins!
Stewards from PFNHP, the Union representing Nurses, Techs, and Support Staff at Porter Hospital, have organized and won several unfair disciplines this month!
Brian, Helen Porter LNA: Stewards were able to successfully grieve Brian’s unjust termination.Brian will be returning to work on 1/12/26. He will be working his same shift in a different unit with: no at-will probationary period, full back pay with differentials, full CTO and EIR accrual, reinstatement of his health benefits, and the final installment of his signing bonus. We are excited to welcome Brian back to work.
Justin, EVS worker: After management indicated their intent to terminate Justin (after placing him on Admin Leave on the same day he received his final written warning), stewards and Justin filed a Step 3 Grievance against his final written warning. Stewards then rejected an Last Chance Agreement (LCA) offer from management that would have left Justin with no recourse if he were terminated. Management did not pursue termination and are now in the process of working with Justin, EAP, PFNHP, and HR to help him prepare for a successful return to work. The Step 3 Grievance meeting contesting the final written warning is scheduled.
Amber, Laundry: By working with Amber’s co-workers and carefully documenting their testimony, Amber and her stewards were able to remove an unwarranted documented verbal warning for an alleged code of conduct violation.
January 9th, 2026 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
AFT Vermont Members Deliver Political Action to Legislators
This past fall, AFT Vermont members asked their fellow Union members to sign a card to their state Representatives and Senators endorsing our legislative platform, a platform that was written and approved by our membership. Workers from each of our established local affiliate unions took it upon themselves to talk with their coworkers about our legislative priorities and collect signatures. Members in nearly every legislative district around the state decided to take action to let their Representatives know that healthcare and higher education are human rights, and that we want our elected officials to take our concerns seriously this legislative session.
On January 8th, a few AFT Vermont members gathered in the State House to deliver the results of this action to Representatives and Senators. We hand-delivered most legislators a stack of cards from their constituents and had conversations with them about our Union and our priorities for this legislative session. Our message to Montpelier was loud and clear: AFT Vermont members are engaged in the legislative process and willing to take action on the issues that we care about.
We’re looking forward to continuing our advocacy for legislation that will improve our working conditions and make healthcare and higher education more accessible and affordable for everyone, including:
- The right to strike for public higher education workers
- Making hospital boards more transparent by making them adhere to open meeting laws
- Shared governance on the UVM and VSC Board of Trustees
- Funding for Community Health Centers, Planned Parenthood, and our State Colleges
United Academics Pay Discrepancy Win!
For Academic Year 2024-2025,three faculty in UVM’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences who had been paid below the minimum salary for their rank. The underpayments ranged from (roughly) $500 to $3,500 for the year.
For Academic Year 2025-2026 (the current fiscal year), there were again three faculty in CNHS who are being paid below the minimum salary for their rank. The underpayments ranged from (roughly) $900 to $11,500 for the year.
Joe Kurdle, UA Treasurer with a keen financial eye, noticed these discrepancies, and brought it to the attention of UAs Contract Administration Committee. Ingird Nelson brought this issue up in UAs regular Labor Management meetings and after review from the Administration, this discrepancy was rectified and the members will be paid in full!
December 12th, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
AFT VERMONT IN THE NEWS
More employees unionize at Porter Medical Center
Vermont Public, by Lola Duffort
December 10th, 2025
About 80 health professionals at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury will form a union with AFT-Vermont after voting 53-12 in favor of unionization Tuesday.
The union elections this week follow a remarkably successful string of unionization efforts across Vermont’s health care sector in recent years, including at Porter, at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington and the Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin.
AFT-Vermont now represents more than 12,000 workers in health care and higher education, according to Nicole DiVita, a certified ophthalmic technician at the University of Vermont Medical Center and AFT’s president for health care. The union’s rolls have roughly doubled in the last five to six years, she said, in part because of the enormous stress health care has been under since the COVID-19 pandemic.
December 5th, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
UVM Support Staff United Dependents Audit Win!
In early July, UVM launched a Dependents Audit, requiring employees–by September 5–to upload birth certificates, marriage licenses, adoption papers to WTW – a third-party, multinational company, with the goal of removing healthcare coverage for so-called ineligible family members, to save money for the university.
UVMSU members immediately understood the danger of surrendering sensitive personal documents in a time when the federal government is targeting workers and students who are immigrants and who are queer. It also felt an awful lot like what the federal administration is doing: making unfounded accusations of waste, fraud, and abuse, asking for our papers, and targeting DEI work, so, together with United Academics and UE Local 267, we fought back.
Over the course of several months, UVMSU members, alongside UA and UE 267, organized around this issue. When the UVM administration refused to bargain the terms of the audit with us, we turned to people power. Our members ramped up the pressure on the administration, most importantly by delaying their compliance with the audit, and subsequently marching on HR and the President’s office, to call for her to pause the audit and negotiate.
Less than a week later, the University capitulated by announcing two major changes to the audit. First, UVM agreed to direct WTW to delete all UVM data immediately after the end of the audit. And they agreed to allow employees to verify their dependents directly with UVM HR.. While we had consistently advocated for the past practice of attestation, rather than a third–party audit, winning these changes showed that even when our right to bargain is denied, we can force our employer to change course through collective pressure.
November 21st, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
UVMMC Support Staff United Float Differential Win:
Medical Assistants at UVMMC Orthopedics and Rehab were offered a float differential in writing by their supervisor to assist at another clinic. The union members took their supervisor at her word and agreed to float. When they got their paychecks, there was no float differential, and they were made aware that there is no float differential for Medical Assistants in their contract. Support Staff United Grievance Chair Betsy Brown assisted the members in filing a grievance anyways because management had offered the pay in writing. UVMMC agreed to pay the Medical Assistants the money they were promised for those shifts!
AFT Vermont Field Rep/Organizer María Sepúlveda provided support on this grievance
November 7th, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
CVMC Nurse/Tech Union Wins 9 Grievances Slated for Arbitration
Earlier this year, Central Vermont Healthcare United (CVHU) filed for arbitration on 10 separate grievances. Before these arbitration hearings happened, CVHU was able to negotiate a settlement with CVMC management on 9 of the 10 issues. This avoided using tens of thousands of dollars in the arbitration process, and CVHU won on nearly all of the issues, including:
- Returning to the former practice of stacking holiday, incentive, and overtime pay, with the increased rates of pay from their contract – AND backpay for all instances since July 2024
- Float Pay for ACU & Endoscopy
- No one can be placed on unpaid administrative leave anymore
- Agreement to renegotiate CTO scheduling process and return to former holiday scheduling practice on Medsurg
- SANE/Forensic nurses will be paid the call-in premium and case stipend
October 31st, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
UVMMC Nurses, Techs, and Support Staff Safe Staffing Win
In August leaders from VFNHP and UVMMC-SSU delivered a staffing petition with over 1250 signatures–and over 100 “Concern for Safe Staffing forms” to Nurse management at UVMMC. Nurses and LNAs spoke to management about their experience of unsafe staffing conditions related to the new staffing policy.
Because members of both unions worked together to file safe staffing forms, grievances, supported the petition, and spoke directly to the hospital management about concerns for safe staffing and high-quality patient care, the hospital has agreed to return to the previous staffing policy
This is a tremendous victory for quality patient care and is due to union members uniting and speaking up for safe staffing for patients and staff. It is also a powerful reminder that your voice changes lives.
October 24th, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
Hospice Staff Vote to Form Union
In June, after six months of organizing, a majority of the 85 Hospice staff at UVM Home Health and Hospice voted to formalize their union, and now a representative committee is at the negotiating table and organizing for a fair first contract.
Hospice United represents Nurses, LNAs, Social Workers, Chaplains, Bereavement Coordinators, Volunteers Coordinators, Cooks, and Admin Support in both the McClure Miller Respite House and the community-based team.
“We’re doing this to build a better Hospice,” says Lindsay Gagnon, APRN Hospice Nurse Practitioner. “We deserve fair caseloads, so we can give each patient and family the best care possible at the end of life. We deserve fair pay that reflects the highly skilled and specialized care we provide. We deserve respect and a voice, to ensure every team member has what they need to thrive while doing the work we are so passionate about.”
With a 88% voting yes, this victory marks the establishment of union representation at every one of UVM Health Network’s seven locations.
“At Hospice, we are an interdisciplinary team that supports patients’ mind, body, and spirit. We’re in the field everyday, solo at times, but never alone – creating a web of care that touches every part of our community. Nobody should be left out; it wouldn’t be Hospice without the whole team,” says Nina Thompson, Chaplain.
Nicole DiVita, an Ophthalmic Technician at UVMMC and president for healthcare of AFT Vermont says of this union election, “I am thrilled that Hospice employees now have a real voice in their workplace, and I’m thrilled to welcome them to AFT Vermont. We are the fastest growing union in the state, representing over 11,000 healthcare and higher education professionals, including nurses and health professionals at five Vermont hospitals. In just the last 4 months, over 700 healthcare workers have organized their union and joined AFT Vermont. When healthcare workers have a voice, we raise the standard of care for our whole community.”
The organizing committee was assisted by AFT Vermont Field Rep/Organizers Emma Galvin and Nick Brown.
October 17th, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
Members of Brattleboro Healthcare United (BHU) and the community at the Board of Directors meet at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital
BHU Bargaining Team member Joanne Lucas spoke about BMH’s budget, leadership, and multiple unfair labor practice (ULP) charges, including BMH’s illegal firing of Karla Griswold: “It seems the hospital prefers to spend money it doesn’t have to fight a case it already lost, rather than prioritize the financial health of the organization.”
Joanne also emphasized “The financial health of BMH is important to its employees and to the community. No one wants to see BMH shuttered. We, the employees of BMH, are hardworking, dedicated individuals who care deeply about our patients and our hospital. We come to work every day to provide the best quality care and services to the people we serve. We are continually asked to do more with less and we do it with the utmost compassion and professionalism.”
Members of BHU and the Brattleboro Federation of Nurses have also been meeting with legislators and sharing with them management’s repeated violations of labor law and asking legislators to reach out to management and encourage them to follow the law.
Field Rep/Organizers Hailey Escobar and Sarah Shames are supporting BHU in their fight for a fair first contract–and a fair successor contract for BFN.
October 10th, 2025 | AFT Vermont Newsletter
Arbitrator Rules that UVMMC Violated our Contract: Alexandrea is Reinstated!!!
Alexandrea Montgomery was a remote worker in the Patient Access & Service Center handling inbound calls to specialty clinics at UVMMC, until she was wrongfully terminated in December 2024. She is a single mother, a hard worker and was great at her job.
In the summer of 2024, UVMMC Management unilaterally changed the schedules of all of the workers in the Patient Access & Service Center from a 30 min to a 1 hour unpaid lunch break. Support Staff United filed a grievance. Alexandrea anticipated the schedule change would be an issue for her in the fall because she is responsible for taking her daughter to school. At the time, her supervisor gave her permission to go on “Not Ready” on the phone system while she did the school drop off. This supervisor left UVMMC and when the manager of the department found out Alexandrea was taking her daughter to school during her shift, she did not believe there was an agreement with the prior supervisor and fired Alexandrea. Support Staff United filed a grievance, which UVMMC denied, and union leadership voted to take the case to arbitration.
At the arbitration hearing, Alexandrea did an excellent job testifying truthfully to support her case that she had not committed “serious gross misconduct” as alleged by UVMMC. Management’s witnesses, on the other hand, would not answer simple yes or no questions about the case and ultimately the arbitrator found them to be a “less reliable witness” than Alexandrea. It was clear that progressive discipline was not followed.
Three months after the hearing, we got the news that WE WON: Alexandrea is eligible for reinstatement and to be made whole for all financial losses as a result of the termination. We are excited to welcome Alexandrea back as a union member and that our first arbitration was a success.