Members of the Copley Hospital UNAP are preparing to negotiate a successor agreement to the current contract that expires on May 29. The Union’s executive council used their annual allday retreat held on December 7 to develop a plan to maximize member participation in developing proposals for successful negotiations.

Nurses at Copley Hospital (VT) recently settled two arbitration cases and are preparing for a third.  In the first case, a dispute over the effective date of a new step scale was settled when the parties agreed to a compromise that resulted in reroactive pay for Union members. 

In the second case, the Union alleged that the Hospital had not provided it with proper notification and input into health plan changes.  After five hours of testimony, an arbitrator brokered an agreement that provides for meetings to be held each year between the Hospital and the Union four months before the health plan expires.  In the upcoming arbitration case, the Union is challenging the Hospital’s decision to hire an outside job applicant when there was a qualified Union member who had applied for the position.