Support and technical staff at Rutland Regional Medical Center are seeking to form a union, but hospital leadership is trying to dissuade them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Medical technologists and aid workers are preparing to vote on whether to organize as part of the American Federation of Teachers. In addition to educators, the federation represents health care workers at facilities across the state, including the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington and Porter Hospital in Middlebury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
RRMC staff members who spoke to the Rutland Herald this week said the situation was caused by uncompetitive pay, staffing issues and a feeling of not being heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cAfter COVID-19 hit, it became really clear that we were being ignored as support staff and technicians,\u201d Emergency Department Executive Director Heather Ikerd said. \u201cWe have a hard time getting our opinions understood and getting anyone to listen to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Icard said the issue was brought into sharp focus late last year when the hospital announced plans to close its pediatric unit. The announcement was made without any input from pediatric staff and was abandoned after an initial report to the Green Mountain Care Committee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“I’ve been there for 10 years, and I feel like we’re having the same conversations,” said Chris Kiernan, an imaging technician. “Over time, many of us have realized that even when we find a real concern that we have, nothing really comes of it when we raise it.[Unionizing]feels like the only way we can have a voice.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Robert Knox, a respiratory therapist who has worked at the hospital since 2000, said staffing is a long-standing problem that could be improved if the union can negotiate better pay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“Despite what management says…we want RRMC to return to a position where it is truly an employer of choice and at the forefront of patient care. At this time, our leadership is not allowing us to do that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Hospital administrators are urging staff to wear name tags to prevent them from voting, Icard and others said. The hospital also posted anti-union messages on the landing page of its employee website, according to screenshots shared with the Herald.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Additionally, employees say that although the hospital employs outside consultants and holds neutral information sessions, Keenan and others have a clearly anti-union atmosphere. Eicheld said arguments made at the meeting included that local members had no decision-making power and that everything was up to AFT Vermont’s upper management.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That was not the experience at UVMMC, according to Heather Bauman, a phlebotomist who helped organize the union at UVMMC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe made all the decisions,\u201d she said. “We sat down and negotiated the contract. We had a table team of five people and a negotiation team of 60 people from across the hospital. We made decisions together.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bauman, who supports Rutland organizers, believes UVMMC’s union structure has benefited recruitment and retention. She said her colleagues in Burlington have faced little of the backlash from management that local workers are dealing with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“They’re facing pretty bad opposition,” she said. “This is insane. It’s crazy how tough conditions are in the hospital for these people. It’s a scorching hot planet.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bauman said UVMMC has not hired outside consultants and pledged to remain neutral in this process. She contrasted this with RRMC, saying CEO Judy Fox refused to meet with organizers when she filed the petition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The hospital responded to inquiries with a prepared statement saying it respects employees’ legal right to form a union and encouraged all eligible employees to vote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cAt the same time, we believe in maintaining direct and collaborative relationships with our staff and supporting open communication, responsiveness, and a shared commitment to patient care,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cFor these reasons, we believe that introducing a third party into our workplace is not in the best interest of our employees, hospitals, and patients.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Hospital representatives on Monday declined to address specific questions about how much RRMC is spending on East Coast workers or from what part of the budget the funds are being allocated. They did not immediately respond to repeated questions in a follow-up email Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A collective bargaining agreement obtained by the Herald shows the hospital agrees to pay Reliant Labor Relations, which also operates under the name East Coast Labor Relations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s website, a $350 hourly wage plus $65 in travel and daily meal allowances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The company has four full-time representatives, who work eight hours a day throughout the week, costing the hospital more than $10,000 a day, Knox and others said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“Even our providers aren’t making that much money,” Ikard said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bauman said support staff will vote as one bargaining unit and medical technicians will vote as a separate bargaining unit. Voting is scheduled for April 8th and 9th.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
#Rutland #Regional #Medical #Center #fights #unionization #efforts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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