SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – On Nov. 2, 2022, UNAP Local 5122, representing the nurses at Springfield Hospital, ratified its first collective bargaining agreement with Springfield Hospital. After six months of bargaining, the parties were able to reach agreement on a first contract. Alicia Reed, President of the Springfield Registered Nurses Union said, “The Union achieved its main goal of the establishment of a new equitable wage scale that finally recognized the long and faithful service nurses have given to the hospital especially throughout the Covid pandemic.” Along with the new wage scale, the Union also negotiated the following:
- Negotiated language that recognized the Hospital’s obligation to honor it’s staffing grid that it submits to the State of Vermont;
- Safety and Health provisions;
- Improvements on critical need pay and other specialty pay;
- A three year duration;
- Creation of a Labor Management Committee to address issues like staffing guidelines, nursing practice, education patent satisfaction, recruitment, and retention initiatives;
- General wage increases to the new wage scale in all three years of the contract;
- “Catch up” step movement on the new wage scale for RN’s who were paid less than their overall years as a Registered Nurse including credited time spent as an LPN nurse.
Throughout the entire process, the Union’s bargaining team, working in conjunction with the Hospital’s bargaining team, successfully achieved the goal of improving the Nurse’s wages, benefits, and working conditions which will ultimately improve the ability of the nurses to improve patient satisfaction and patient outcomes and allow the Hospital to attract and retain its talented workforce.