During the summer, UVM employees were notified that everyone with a dependent on their health insurance would have to provide documentation proving that those dependents were eligible.
This departed from decades of established practice. UVM paid a third-party company to collect these documents, and to store them for up to 10 years.
United Academics leaders heard from many members about the lack of trust this showed, as well as their fear of uploading sensitive documents about their families—particularly around immigration status, gender identity, and overall privacy and security.
UA joined together with fellow campus unions UVM Staff United and Maintenance & Electrical Workers to resist this move, and after an intensive campaign, we were successful! The administration provided an alternative method for compliance, which allowed employees to submit their documents for internal review through Human Resources. Our campaign also ensured that documents would not be stored with the third-party company after review, even for those employees who had them verified via that portal.
In the end, UVM paid over $100,000 for this contract, and reported that no dependents were found to be ineligible through this process.
When we fight, we win! We do not, and should not, comply with invasive, insensitive, time- and money-wasting power plays. Hundreds of union members across campus submitting feedback and showing up to rallies to say NO made a difference! It was a powerful time of union solidarity at UVM, and it paid off with an important win.
-Maeve Eberhardt, UA Secretary