The following article is by some of the 520 workers at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital; they e-mailed this article to the Valley Post on June 25: Earlier this year, the 325 ancillary staff at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) proudly voted to form our union, Brattleboro Healthcare United. Despite BMH management spending over $400,000 to hire anti-union consultants and lawyers to oppose our organizing drive, we voted by a two-thirds majority to unionize because we’re deeply committed to livable wages for all, a workplace based on respect and fairness, and safe staffing to allow us to provide the highest quality care.

Who are we? We're the ones helping you find your way when you walk through the door, checking you in, prepping you for procedures, keeping your rooms clean, bringing you your meals, getting your imaging and labs done, and wrangling your insurance.

BMH is a staple of our community and the largest employer in Windham County. Those of us who work there (many for decades) are proud of the work we do to improve the health and safety of the hospital, as an institution, and of the communities we serve. However, for too long the employees of BMH have been asked to do more with less. Many of us do not feel seen, heard, or cared for by the institution we give so much of ourselves to.. Our bargaining surveys revealed that:
• One-third of us work multiple jobs just to make ends meet.
• 42% struggle to keep the lights and heat on.
• 53% of us can’t afford enough groceries to feed our families.

Three planks of our bargaining priorities platform focus on fair and livable wages, work-life balance, and safe staffing. In practice, this means making sure the person helping schedule your next appointment isn’t working two other jobs just to keep their kids fed. It means making sure the person checking your IV isn’t on their third double shift this week. It means making sure there are enough of us at all times to care for you and your loved ones during some of your most vulnerable moments.

It’s time for a change. As described in our fourth bargaining platform plank of community investment and fair treatment, it’s time for BMH to invest in its local staff and the community that sustains it by prioritizing local staff over temporary or contracted workers. It’s time to “grow our own” with competitive wages and policies that allow us to grow and deepen our abilities to serve our community, for the long-haul.

It’s been almost a month since management met us at the bargaining table. Instead of returning to the table, BMH continues to propose a divisive, inefficient, and costly bargaining process, dividing us into six separate groups, bargaining separately (meaning six times the lawyers fees coming out of patient dollars during a financial crisis). Instead of tackling our shared commitment to sustaining this community hospital in negotiations, they’ve tried to push through unilateral cuts, major staff reorganization, and outsourcing of multiple departments. Instead of engaging in the spirit of true partnership, they’ve fired one of our colleagues for engaging in union activity.

Despite all of this, we remain steadfast and hopeful. We’re steadfast in our goal of bargaining a first contract that substantially invests in the 325 ancillary staff who are integral and foundational to BMH. We’re hopeful that management will not just listen but actually hear our concerns, take our perspective and ideas seriously, and work with us so that we can all benefit from the stellar care that this community relies on us, the hundreds-strong team of front line healthcare workers, to provide.

We’re fully aware there are many challenges facing medical care in rural communities today, and we understand that this care is disappearing in many places. Brattleboro Healthcare United is motivated to choose a path of reinvention that strengthens our community hospital for the long haul. We believe that with investment in our staff, fair wages, and a commitment to safe, sustainable working conditions, BMH can thrive and become a model for rural healthcare. By investing in us, BMH invests in the health and future of this entire community.

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The workers have a web page at:

https://aftvermont.org/brattleboro-healthcare-united-mission-statement