 All right, so as you know, back in January, we voted with 86% support from our union. It was a clear and decisive choice to unite as a staff and meet management as a collective. So in May we went into negotiations. Many of you have been and continue to come to the negotiations. We started the process of bargaining by making it clear to UVMMC administration that we were serious about making improvements. We're serious about making improvements to pay equity, increased salaries and a livable wage for all, attracting and retaining quality staff, protecting and improving worker safety and patient care. And it's not too much to ask but a healthy work-life balance. Thanks Shannon. So far we've had eight bargaining sessions with management. We've met to earnestly and honestly share our experiences in the hope that management would hear us and realize what we're going through, then work with us to make a change. Our colleagues courageous honesty moved us to tears, stories of housing insecurity, inability to afford health care, violence in the workplace and the constant stress of being overworked and underpaid. We're just asking to be heard and we ask to be respected. So we're here today because it's clear that they're not hearing us. There it is. Let them hear us. Yeah, so we show up here and we show up every Wednesday, right? We show up on Wednesdays. Our colleagues bravely share their experiences. We offer proposals to fix what is broken in our workplace and we know it's broken. We work there and they file in week after week and they continue to present us with insulting proposals. They refuse to acknowledge that our jobs are dangerous. They resist giving us the tools that we need to protect ourselves and they don't seem to grok that we feel lucky when we make it through a shift without being hurt or when we manage to somehow scrape by with a couple of bucks left in our bank accounts after we pay our rent. Yeah, right. It's real. Happy end of the month, happy payday. So while management seems to get that short staffing really is a problem for us as well as a problem for patient safety, thus far their proposals only address staffing concerns for some of our positions, not for all of our positions. And similarly, their wage proposal has given significant increases to some of us, but not to all of us. So do you see the theme, right? We see it. Our management is willfully ignoring our needs and is attempting to divide us from each other. Apparently our priorities are not their priorities. And they rightfully fear the power of a united support staff. They know that if we're divided that they can walk away from these negotiations without successfully without addressing our needs. But we're here today to show management and to show our community that we are not divided. That we stand together, unified behind our bargaining priorities. We believe that all staff must be supported in their jobs. We believe that all staff must earn a livable wage. We believe that all staff should be safe at work. And we believe that all departments should be fully staffed. Our community deserves a better hospital. We deserve to live and work in a community of care where our needs are met and where safety is a priority. So we're here today to show our unity and make it clear that we're prepared to do what is necessary even if it's standing out in the pouring rain to make improvements we need to do our jobs, live lives with dignity and provide the best patient care possible for our community. Management keeps adding additional dates to bargaining. They're dragging their feet, y'all. They won't do what is right until we put enough pressure on them. So now we are going to sing. Do we have the lyrics? We're going to pass out the lyrics, but essentially it's a call and response. We got this. We got this. All right. I'm going to sing it a couple of times and then you'll just sing along with me. I know you will. Make them hear it way up there. Oh, my mom. Yeah. There are mean things happening in this land. There are mean things happening in. There are mean things happening in this land. Now I'm going to sing the verse and you're going to repeat it back to me. There are mean things happening in this land. We can't afford to pay our bills. We can't afford to pay our bills. There are mean things happening in this land. There are mean things happening in this land. There are mean things happening in this. There are mean things happening in this stuffing everywhere. We need safe stuffing everywhere. There are mean things happening in this land. Worker's safety in a livable wage. We want worker's safety in a livable wage. There are mean things happening in this land. Last verse, there'll be good things happening in this land. There'll be good things happening in this land. I just, hey everybody, I'm Brett. Here are the facts. There are 2,300 members of this union. Over half of us struggle to pay debt and loans and they struggle to afford food. Over 71% of us struggle to pay rent or mortgage. Over 90% of us qualify for the hospital's own patient financial assistance program. This is unacceptable. People who work at this hospital, the largest private employer in the state should be guaranteed a living wage. And the dignity and dignity at work. We shouldn't be struggling to put food on our table, keep a roof over our heads. We should not suffer the indignities of discrimination at our jobs. We are here today because we are serious about making changes. UVMMC just recently submitted a request to the Green Mountain Care Board asking for a 24% budget increase, citing significant cost pressure and inflation. And their most recent wage proposal to support staff, they offered a 1% cost of living increase for 2024. We all know this is ridiculous. And to help bring that point home, I'd like to welcome up Amber. Hi everybody, I'm Amber. This is my dog, put it to my mouth like this. OK. My name is Amber and I am an OSS in women's. I have worked for the hospital for eight years and women's for six. This is my daughter, Rachel. She's joining me here today in solidarity because she is a kid who has grown up with the consequences of my employment at this hospital. I started working here because I have two kids who were patients here and I really appreciated the services that they were getting. And I wanted to be part of that. I really wanted to be part of the patient experience. Thank you, Jordan. Oh, my goodness, right there. OK. Smell it. Smell it. Now I've lost my place. I love you. Thank you, guys. It's really important that we build a foundation of trust with our patients. And as the people at the front desk and at the door and on the other end of the phone, we are the first contact that patients have with this hospital. And that experience sets the tone for the rest of their appointments with us. And I don't think that management recognizes that. I'm also a single mother. I have raised two of my children trying to live on the wages that the hospital pays. I live in some of the least expensive housing in Chittenden County. I rent from Champlain Housing Trust and I can't afford to pay my rent. When I first gave my statement about six weeks ago, I said I can't make it till October. I don't know if I'll make it till the end of July. It is now the end of July. And I guess you could say I've made it in that I am still in my apartment, but I am behind on my rent. My last two paychecks have gone to car payments, groceries, vet bills, I've had car repairs, and I have had nothing left. This Tuesday, before we got paid, my son came to me on Tuesday night and all the way home I was trying to think of what we were gonna have for dinner. And I would think of something that we make pretty often and I'd go, oh man, can't make that tonight because we don't have this item. And I went through probably five or six items before I was able to come up with something that I could make for dinner out of what we had left in our house. And later on that night, my 16-year-old son came to me and any of you who have raised a 16-year-old know what it's like when you have a 16-year-old in the house. They are ravenous. He came to me right before bedtime and he goes, Mom, do we have enough money so I can walk over to Shaw's and get a can of oranges? A can of Mandarin oranges costs a dollar and 58 cents in case you're wondering. I did not have a dollar and 58 cents to give my 16-year-old child because all of my money goes to paying bills, goes to putting gas in my car so I can get back and forth to work. I don't have extra money. And my kids have been denied so many experiences growing up. They've never been to the Guarain Canron. They've never been to New York City. They've never been anywhere. They've never been to Disney World. I can't afford to do that for them. My CTO time has gone to doctor's visits because I have a child with a chronic illness. It goes to teacher's meetings and pretty much that's it. I have very little time left over and that's just not fair to them as kids to have to grow up like that. And when they came into that meeting last week and said it was gonna cost $80 million over the course of four years to pay all of us what we're worth, like that was a big sum of money to them. I just, I couldn't fathom, I was angry. And y'all should be angry because that's not lost money to them. That's maybe not a profit but it's not lost money. It's money that's invested in the safety and welfare of their patients. And until they recognize every single employee of this hospital as a professional from the people who clean the floors and do the laundry to the people who answer their phones and room their patients and clean up behind their patients. This hospital will not be a safe working place. It will not be a good place for patients until the leadership of this hospital recognizes us all as valuable members of their staff. That was a good mic drop moment. Yeah, give it up for Amber. Wow, Matt, good call on the paper. Okay, so when someone does a job for eight, 10, 12 hours a day, every day for weeks, months and years, they become acutely aware of the intricacies of that job. Their experience lends itself to ideas about how the job can be done better and how the staff holds the institutional memory that is an unsaved database rich with information, rich with information. Sorry, guys, it's like running ink. But when those people are not supported at work with equipment they need or appropriate staffing, if they are not paid enough to pay their bills, if they are not able to take days off because there is no coverage, those folks burn out. Our proposals are designed to make the jobs at our region's level one trauma center, ones where we can attract staff because of the quality entry level wages and keep people because we provide supportive environments. So now I'm gonna introduce Tricia. My name is Tricia Ellis. I've worked in the phlebotomy department of UVM Medical Center for almost seven years. I love my job and I love my team. I wanna stand up for them today and voice my concerns. Our department has been hemorrhaging staff for years and we train new phlebotomists constantly. Phlebotomy is a skill that can only come from experience and that requires lots of hours training on the job. We face great responsibilities. Mistakes are costly and delays in patient care can be harmful. We need to be able to focus and be well-trained to do our job. Our patients depend on it. They can't afford for us to lose our most precious commodity, our experienced staff. Our phlebotomy department is at crisis staffing levels. We've continuously worked short staffed in some cases less than half staffing. We have skipped breaks, picked up extra shifts, stayed late and in general, given 100% to get our department through this stressful and difficult time. The newest proposal we were offered to help with the situation is unacceptable and will change absolutely nothing. The amount of money our new phlebotomists are being offered under this proposal is not an incentive, rather it is an insult. We are told the hospital can't afford to do better. My boots on the ground perspective is they can't afford not to. We spend enormous amounts of money and manpower we can't spare to train new phlebotomists who can't afford to stay. Not only is this bad business, this is deplorable patient care. Our patients deserve better. We deserve better. Please give us adequate compensation so our phlebotomists can afford to make a career here and enrich our department. Otherwise, we're working for nothing. Please stop the endless cycle of hiring and training and start valuing experience and working for retention. So we are looking to protect and improve worker safety and patient care. You could throw a stone in this crowd and hit someone who has been threatened or assaulted either verbally or physically. So don't throw any stones because we're injured enough as it is. Sure there are metal detectors in the ED but security seems more interested in patrolling parking than keeping us safe. Take that one from Jordan. All we're asking for is additional CTO available following incidents of violence and proactive counseling support for staff when we experience physical or verbal violence. All we're asking for is more accountability for patients who are abusive to staff. All we're asking for is de-escalation training for patient-facing employees. Is this too much to ask? No. We're gonna hear from Shannon who is a mental health technician in our emergency department and her delightful children. I'm Shannon and I'm currently working as a mental health technician in the ED. Before that I worked as a CPSA. I know firsthand that our frontline staff do not work in safe conditions. As a CPSA I was punched by a patient and kicked in the back. When I got kicked I was lucky enough to have a day off the next day because I could barely get out of bed. I don't know what I would have done if had I had to go to work. Since I've moved to the ED many of my coworkers including my husband have been victims of assault. My coworker Scott has lost track of how many times he has been assaulted. His eye socket was broken by a patient causing half of his face to swell. He's also received a black eye and had teeth loosened because of patient violence. Another coworker Joey had his hand broken by a patient and was out for a month. Once he came back he only took low risk patients but had to intervene when several coworkers were attacked in front of him. As a result he sustained a large visible scratch on the side of his face and onto his collarbone. We initially literally take a beating for this hospital. Why wouldn't the hospital show the same level of loyalty and commitment to us? We should not have to use our own CTO time to recover from assaults. We deserve safe working conditions and a livable wage. So it's great to see more people coming out here. That's what's gonna happen, right? As we tell these stories more people are gonna come out and join us because these stories are heartbreaking, they're compelling and they're real and I have to say as my kiddos only parent, my heart goes out to Amber and the things, we're trying to raise our families in this community and they're making it damn near impossible. So we work for an organization that claims to prioritize strong healthy families but our experiences as the support staff at UVMMC is that we are unsupported. We can't afford to pass up the overtime and the urgent time when it's offered to us. We count on those extra hours and those extra dollars to supplement our dismal wages and don't think that management doesn't know it. But that's time, that's our time. That's our time with our friends and our family that we have to give to them in order to make it. And here we are, that's time we could be using to run errands, to take care of our homes or perhaps even take care of our own healthcare needs. That is if we can afford healthcare. Currently, if you opt into the UVMMC health insurance, a physician or a manager or the CFO pays the exact same amount that you would pay towards the premium, right? Towards those of us making just over 16 bucks an hour. We all pay the same amount. This approach is terribly regressive and it leaves those of us who are the lowest paid taking home even less of our income than the higher paid staff. So to address this problem of inequity, we propose a system where contributions to healthcare premiums are based on what we take home every year, right? Not, we are looking also to fix this system of combined time off and the holiday system so that folks can be with their loved ones. So they can be with their families and friends at these important moments. Because as we said on Wednesday, we don't live to work, we just work to live. So I'd like to introduce my friend from the lab, Amanda. She here? There she is. Amanda brings a bright umbrella and 23 years of experience to her work. And for all of those years providing healthcare to her community, she struggles to access care herself. Hi, I'm Amanda. I've been here for 23 years. I've worked in the laboratory. I've never been insured, ever. Not one single year, neither has my son. I had to get Dr. Dinosaur so that he could get his knee and injury taken care of with surgery, which probably would have been hundreds of thousands out of pocket or not gotten at all. It's crazy that the traveling nurses get $7,000 a week to work here, but they're not taking care of those of us who have been lifers. Half of my life I've spent here. Not one year of health insurance. Nothing that I can afford, $320 a month isn't affordable. It's not fair. I think that's why. All right, so we've heard some pretty heartbreaking stories, but now with the mic, even if the mic cuts out, it shouldn't matter because we should be loud enough, but we're going to do some chants and kind of boost up the energy, boost each other up. Hold on, I'm getting it, I'm getting it, I'm getting it. All right, so I'm going to start and then these guys are going to answer and we're going to do it two times and you guys are going to answer when they answer. We're going to be nice and loud. Four staff united. We'll never be divided. Support staff united. We'll never be divided. Support staff united. We'll never be divided. As we have time to work on this, we can be out here all day. Okay, C&G offers have to go hit, hit. Now that I know what I'm supposed to speak and what I'm not supposed to speak, we're going to do the support staff one, ready? Support staff united. We'll never be. It's important that I drink. I know we're going to make a great contract and look at us here. I'll be winning a great contract. I'll be able to buy fresh kale and spinach from local farmer's market. Seems to be easy, thank you, but right now I'm buying frozen broccoli from Costco. I'm vegetarian. I gotta keep my iron levels up. What does it look like to only have one job? Instead of coming home from the hospital, landing home for a quick bite and dashing to the next thing, what if you could just get home, get into your coziest PJs and just rest? What if I don't have to put off, like taking care of my janky knees? Because there's no one in the office. Yeah, my janky knees. Because there's no one in the office that can cover me when I'm gone. This is what looking like a great conscious contract. There'll be enough staff in my office that I can take care of myself. Woo! Brett has something to say. I'm here today for my daughter. I'm here today because with a great contract, I see the two of us hopping in a car with a full tank of gas, not having to ration it out to get to work in the off week of the pay period. Friving in this beautiful state to get a creamy together. Sitting at a picnic table, squeaking our legs, chatting about anything and everything a little girl thinks of. I wanna make core memories. Summers at the beach or by the river, days filled with energy, not too overworked to run around the yard with her. My beautiful girl deserves your life and I can see it for her. I see it for my family and I see it for every single one of us. Can you shout out things that you, that will look, what it'll look like when you have, when we have a better contract? Just shout it out. I'll repeat it. Fair wage. Full staffing. What about your life? Vacation. Vacation. Vacation. AC in a car. Before it's an emergency. One job. One job. One job. Just one. Just one, Trisha. Freedom for your hobbies. All the sewing. Get access to care when you need it. Dreaming. This is what we're fighting for. This is what we're sailing to. Is there anything else on our agenda? Should we sing again? All right, so here's our plan to win. We're gonna continue the pressure on the decision makers. The directors. We're talking about the very top. Those are the ones that are holding this money back. And through public engagement, we'll get to them. If they're not listening to us, you better be sure they're gonna listen to the community members. We're gonna engage our colleagues to have a majority participation. This right here, I didn't expect that this many people would come out in this kind of rain. We gotta double it. They're up there looking at us, counting our numbers. How much we care about what we're asking for. Yes, wave. Okay, the next. If you haven't already, send the email to Leffler and Sunil and the, I think he's the CFO of the chair. We got a call from them saying, when are you guys gonna knock this off? They've noticed, keep on sending community petition. There's a QR code that leads to a link tree. The more people that sign our community petition, the more we're able to call on them and say, here's the number of people that we think. All right, so that's it for today. If we're feeling it, if you're feeling fired up, we can do a little march around. How are we feeling? Thumbs up, thumbs up.