2025 Leadership Elections
What you need to know
Ballots will be sent directly to your work email address, and will be from a service called “Election Runner”. If you do not see this email in your inbox after 12:01 AM on April 1st, 2025, please check your spam folder (or the “Other” tab on Microsoft Outlook).
If you still cannot find your ballot, please reach out to vfnhp-election@aftvermont.org and we will go about helping you sort out that issue. You may also request that your ballot be sent to your home email address.
Get to know the candidates, in their own words.
Each candidate for office has submitted a statement about their platform. See each of them below:
For the office of VFNHP President:
Nicole DiVita: “I’m excited to be running for the position of president of our union. I have worked at UVMMC since 2016. I am a certified ophthalmic technician with experience working in a clinical setting and assisting surgeons in the OR. I’ve also been the Vice President of Technical Professionals for the past three years, and the President of Healthcare for AFT Vermont for the past year, where I serve and lead over 7000 union members. Prior to these leadership positions, I served as a chief steward for our union.
My vision for the future is for us to become a well-organized, structured, educated, and member-engaged union that lives up to its true potential. Without these crucial elements, we will be unable to reach our full potential. We hold significant power, and I believe we need to utilize it to the largest extent we can. This current untapped power, once utilized, will give us the ability to make gains in areas that have remained status quo for years, if not since the beginning of our contract. When we go to the bargaining table, we need to have a strategy that can take on UVMMC and the network like the big business, corporate- acting entity they are. We deserve nothing less than to be a fierce union who refuses to settle for mediocrity.
Through one-on-one conversations with members, the consensus has been that they would like to see changes that reflect this vision. I believe I represent that change, an opportunity for a more powerful voice that demands what we deserve as healthcare workers. I hope you will allow me to lead our union in that direction.”
Rachel Foxx: As a Registered Nurse and International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, I have worked with new families as a postpartum nurse and lactation consultant since 2007 on the maternity floor at the University of Vermont Medical Center. I was also a pediatric nurse in an outpatient office for 10 years. 1 was an integral part of expanding pasteurized donor human milk (PDHM) availability in the newborn nursery at UVMMC and am Co-Executive Director and founding member of the Vermont Donor Milk Center, bringing PDHM to the community. As a single mother, I have a wonderful daughter who is a sophomore in college; we come from a long line of union organizers, going back generations.
During my time at UVMMC I have been a floor steward on Baird 7 for over 15 years. I have been the Chief Steward for the 7th floor and Pediatrics for the past 2 years, helping members with contract issues and grievances. I have also served on the bargaining team for the past 2 contracts, including helping to organize the All Member march and rally and the strike during our last bargaining season in 2018.
The top issues I would like to focus on during my tenure follow:
- Making it clear to the hospital that increased clarity of communication between our members and the hospital is needed, no matter how much they use the term ‘Transparency”; making it clear to the hospital that we want to be part of the solution, without losing any jobs or decreasing services to the community.
- Continuing to fight for our rights through collective bargaining and the grievance process, ensuring that contracts are fair, transparent, and effective in providing protection for all members.
- Advocating for policies and actions that promote and support diversity, equity, and inclusion in our healthcare teams; encouraging the hospital to develop programs and accommodate diversity in our workforce aimed at recruiting and retaining members from diverse backgrounds.
- Strengthening the union’s outreach to our communities, educating the public on the critical role we play and advocating for policies that improve healthcare access, education, and public health outcomes.
As your next VFNHP Union President, I will fight to make sure our voices are heard. Our members deserve safe staffing, fair compensation, mental health support, the tools to provide the best care for our patients, and the ability to retire. Together, we will create a healthcare system where we are valued, supported, and empowered. Let’s work together for a brighter, healthier future for us and for the patients we serve.”
For the office of Vice President of Organizing:
Alex Dees: “My name is Alex Dees, I’m an ED Tech III, and I’m asking for your vote as VP of Organizing for VFNHP. I was born in southern Vermont, raised in Essex Jct., and graduated from St. Mikes with a degree in Business Administration. My history in healthcare started while I was working as a Ski Patroller at Sugarbush in 2013. I joined UVMMC after getting my EMT license in 2018, working first in patient support and subsequently as an MA at Tilley Cardiology in 2019. I started in the Emergency Department full time as a tech in January 2020. I have worked there full-time since, and I’m currently am pursuing a nursing degree at Norwich University.
I was recruited into VFNHP to fill the vacant board position of VP of Organizing in March of 2023 after my work on the 2023 tech contract bargaining team, and my work advocating for S36 (now Act 24) at the AFT day of action. This bill has updated workplace violence prevention for healthcare workers, and is a passion of mine as both a victim, advocate, and witness to multiple staff who have quit the profession because of workplace violence. I have been a union steward since April of 2022.
My projects since starting on VFNHP include: regular meetings with states attorney for Chittenden County, Sarah George; orienting new hires with VFNHP staff; career ladder work; unit meetings; restarting the VFNHP newsletter; sit as a member Vermont Paid Leave coalition; regular rounding at the 4 main campuses (Main, UHC, Tilley, Fanny), as well as outpatient clinics in Chittenden County; safety committee work (we have a commitment new security staff at UHC and Tilley at this time); act as a member of the union’s finance committee; sat as the tech member on the hospital healthcare affordability committee; aided AFT VT in new member organizing; and I was heavily involved in both of the most recent tech and nurse contracts serving as a tech bargaining team member and advisor for nurse bargaining.
My goals for the next three years are to rebuild our steward to chief steward structure, rebuild the committee structure of board members, increase member involvement and empowerment, and improve our unions community footprint through increased outreach and volunteerism. We are also going to have to endure a rough next four years, and it is important to organize all members around common beliefs, in particular the right to a safe and fair work environment, fair pay and benefits, and professional and equitable staff treatment. Additionally, I will continue to advocate for the AARP approved version of a paid family leave bill at the statehouse, which would enhance paid leave for new parents and primary healthcare providers to family members up to 12 weeks.”
Jason Serota-Winston: “I am running for the VP of Organizing position in order to help our union build strength through increasing participation, two-way communication and internal democracy. As a union, we should be a strong voice for access to care, quality of care, safe staffing, freedom from violence at work, and pay and benefits that attract and retain excellent staff. UVM Health Network and UVMMC function like the big businesses they are. In order to meet the challenge this poses, we as a union need to have a high degree of internal organization and communication among nurses and techs. We also need to work closely with both other union members at UVMMC and throughout the UVM Health Network at other facilities. I have worked at UVMMC since 2007 and currently work in Rapid Response and SICU. I have served in our union previously as VP of Organizing, Chief Negotiator, Chief Steward, bargaining team member, and steward. I was heavily involved in organizing our 2018 strike and the campaign that led up to it. I also volunteered on the campaigns to form unions of support staff, techs (both campaigns) and CVMC, among others. I have been involved in the labor movement since 1994.”
Marybeth Wells:
“Building a responsive and connected union from the ground-up”
I currently serve as the Chief Steward to the Fanny Allen campus, where I have dedicated the last year to outreach and growing new stewardship in underrepresented departments. I am also an RN in the Emergency Department and have worked there for 5+ years. I have worked at hospitals across the country in procedural nursing, pediatrics, outpatient clinics, and inpatient mental health over my 10+ years in healthcare. I am passionate about bringing people together across all sectors of healthcare and organizing to win what we deserve at UVMMC!
My most valuable lessons of the last year have been gained from listening to and learning from the strengths of my teammates. To succeed as a Bargaining Team, we needed to come together from all over the hospital and unite for a single purpose: building a strong contract. We needed to connect and communicate, even when our experiences at the hospital might be very different, or our needs and wants seemed opposed. I took the initiative to reach out to underrepresented departments, and built relationships with B-Team members in departments where I knew the hospital would try to divide us. It was not easy, but we did it—by listening to one another.
As a new Chief Steward, it has been equally valuable to draw on the experience of stewards who have been doing this work for decades, as it has been for me to be inspired by my peers who have also recently stepped up to the role. As VP of Organizing, I will be most excited to bring these two perspectives together. We need to encourage new active members and mentorship alike to build a powerful union together.
My top priority will be to have 1:1 conversations with staff in underrepresented departments to systematically identify member needs across UVMMC. By increasing resources in those areas, we can empower members to take action for meaningful change. I will continue to encourage stewardship in every department of the hospital, and work to have each of our Chief Steward roles filled so that all members can have direct support and representation. Through education and improved communication, we can empower one another to stand up for what we deserve.
Effective unions are built from the ground-up. I am committed to being a responsive, connected, and member-driven leader to build a powerful union that supports us all.
FAQs
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