MORRISVILLE – Support staff at Copley Hospital voted to unionize Thursday, Nov. 14. The formation, which came through a decisive 68-44 vote, joins together the hospital’s nearly 150 staff with its almost 100 nurses in the regional United Nurses and Allied Professionals union.
“I wanted to form a union to be able to have a voice at the table,” Leta Karasinksi, an emergency department technician, said in a press release.
File photo by Carly Berlin, VTDigger
“Up until a few years ago, we had the same healthcare plan as the nurses. Now the union nurses have a better health plan than us,” she said. “I want to see equality with benefits. I want to see safe staffing patterns to be able to deliver the quality of care our patients deserve.”
The yes vote comes on the heels of a similar unionization drive by support staff at Central Vermont Medical Center in early September. They chose to unionize as a chapter of AFT-Vermont, joining support staff at the University of Vermont Medical Center and Porter Medical Center.
Sarah Bray, a patient engagement specialist at Copley who voted in favor of the union, said in a press release that she thinks the staff should be taken seriously. “I think this union will unite the nurses and support staff for years to come and benefit the community at large.”
