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Contacts
Local Unit Officers
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Local Unit Meetings May 20th WSNA Nurse Rep Pat McClure will be at the hospital on May 20th to hold Local Unit Meetings. Please plan to attend one of the meetings. We will be discussing the concerns you have at your workplace, as well as the New Safe Staffing Law as it applies to Skyline. We need to get some volunteers that want to be on the Safe Staffing Committee, at least half of the members have to be WSNA Staff Nurses. They will be developing a Staffing Plan for the hospital along with management. You will have equal standing with management on that committee. We are opening the unit for the Election of Officers. Please consider getting involved. It will take each of you willing to do a little of the work of getting this unit up and functioning as you want it to. YOU ARE WSNA at SKYLINE HOSPITAL. We'll see you on the 20th of May. We will let you know what Conference Room we will be using. WSNA, NURSES FOR NURSES It is always the RIGHT TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING, JOIN WSNA TODAY. News February 13, 2008 Your Negotiating Team has had three sessions with Managment. We have presented our proposal and the hospital has responded to some of them. We are working on your wages and working conditions. Stay tuned for more information as we continue the process. Our next meeting is on the 29th of February. Please be aware that only dues paying members are eligible to vote. So now is the time for you to start supporting one another in your workplace. United you can make a difference in the way patient care is delivered at Skyline as well as the way you are treated.
December 21, 2007 Dear Bargaining Unit Members, As the year 2007 draws to a close and we are looking at the New Year to come, 2008, your Negotiating Team had some conversation about membership being a requirement to be employed at Skyline. There was really an in-depth discussion as to the rights or wrongs of requiring nurses to belong to Washington State Nurses Association. Everyone knows that WSNA is the professional organization for Nurses in Washington State. WSNA is also your collective bargaining agent. The concern over the cost was brought up by one of the team members. That brings me to a point that one of the other members brought up, “Why should some nurses pay and others get the full benefit from our dues without paying a dime.” That is like going to a potluck and not bringing a dish. The dues are predicated on the amount of time you work each month. Unlike other Unions there is no Initiation Fee. If all of the nurses at Skyline were to become dues paying members of the Bargaining Unit, do you know how much strength you would have as a unified voice? If all of you were members, I can assure your management would pay much closer attention to the contract and the rules that are outlined there. Both parties sat at the negotiating table to work out an agreement that is supposed to be fair and equitable for all of the staff nurses at Skyline. It doesn’t play favorites or discriminate or intimidate. It also addresses your yearly salary raises. Potential members certainly do not refuse the wage increases or the benefits that are bargained for. If you were all dues paying members, your voice at the bargaining table would carry so much more weight. Isn’t it time to join your fellow nurses at Skyline? Being a member of the State-wide organization also makes you a member of the American Nurses Association, the National Association. Don’t forget, WSNA represents you in the legislature. We work to improve the health and safety of all of the nurses in Washington State. We were instrumental in the designing and implementation of the “NO MANDATORY OVERTIME LAW, SAFE NEEDLELESS SYSTEMS, and SAFE LIFTING.” Currently, we are working on a SAFE STAFFING BILL. It would require all hospitals to implement a Staffing Committee with Staff Nurses having an equal say in what it takes to staff a unit safely. Doesn’t it make sense for the people who are doing the work to have input into what is needed to get that work done? On January 4th, the Negotiating Team would like to invite you to a “POTLUCK” at the hospital to discuss the issues you may be having as well as to answer any questions that you would like to ask but haven’t had the opportunity. We will start at 11:30am and end at 2:30pm. Watch for the room to be announced. Hope to see all of you at the POTLUCK on January 4, 2008. If you have questions that will not wait, please feel free to call Pat McClure, RN; WSNA Nurse Representative at (206) 575-7979, ext. 3110 or email: pmcclure@wsna.org Our AGENDA for the meeting will be: WSNA 101 - “What It Is and What It Does!” 2008 Local Unit Awards Presented by the WSNA Cabinet on Economic and General Welfare The WSNA Cabinet on Economic and General Welfare is proud to announce the annual Local Unit Awards to be presented during the 2008 Leadership Conference on September 29, 2008 in Lake Chelan. This is your chance to nominate someone that you feel has done an outstanding job as a local unit leader. This can be someone who is, or has been, a local unit leader who you feel deserves some recognition. So please submit your nominations before the July 25, 2008 deadline. To nominate the person, or persons of your choice, please complete the nomination form after reviewing the criteria for each award. More information on you nominee is best! Please add additional pages if necessary! The Categories for the Awards are: Outstanding Local Unit Chair, Adversity Award, Local Unit Star, Outstanding Negotiation Team, Membership Award, and Outstanding Grievance Officer. To nominate someone for one of these awards, download this form and return it to WSNA by July 25, 2008! Current Issue Short Staffing = No Breaks = Unsafe Patient Care The issue of meal and rest breaks has plagued nurse for many years. It has never been about nurses not wanting to take their breaks. It is about real concerns related to staffing and the ability to provide SAFE Patient Care. It is about hospitals having enough STAFF to meet the requirements of the law to provide rest breaks. Missed meal and rest breaks have a direct relationship to short staffing which can lead to unsafe patient care. Missed meal and rest breaks are a direct result of the lack of commitment to provide adequate staffing. Missed meal and rest breaks force you to work exhausted and lead to increased medical and medication errors, thus putting both Your Patients - and YOU - in jeopardy. We don’t think it is unreasonable to expect to be able to stop and rest for 15 minutes every 4 hours … do you? As a Registered Nurse working in Washington: Did You Know?
WSNA Is Fighting For You!
What You Can Do!
Resources from ANA
Membership Want to have a voice in your local unit? Want to be able to vote on your contract? Join WSNA today! Simply download and complete the WSNA Membership Application form, and return it to us by fax or mail. Have you moved? Changed your name? Changed your FTE? Gone on LOA? Don't forget to notify WSNA to ensure that your membership information is correct and that you are paying the right amount of dues. Your employer may not inform WSNA of these changes in a timely fashion… It’s up to you! It's simple. Just complete the Change of Information form and return it to us by fax or mail. Help us keep your records accurate by letting us know right away when there are changes. Tip: to save PDF documents to your computer, right click on the link and select "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..." Select the location on your computer where you want to save the PDF file, and click "Save." |