The Washington State Nurses Association negotiating team met with Kadlec’s administrative management team yesterday, November 11, for the tenth negotiation session in these contract talks. There was a lot of discussion, but little movement on the nurses’ key issues of safe nurse staffing levels and benefits, including vacation time and sick leave. Kadlec Administration is trying to take nearly $1 million per year in Paid Time Off and sick time out of the pockets of the Registered Nurses who work there.
WSNA is finally getting real information from hospital administration regarding the financial hit to Registered Nurses should Kadlec’s proposals ever take effect. While WSNA is concerned that the figures undervalue the benefits Kadlec wants to take away – however even the numbers they submitted are stark. Kadlec admitted that the loss to the bargaining unit nurses of EIB being frozen on January 1, 2016 is valued at $569,078. As to the loss of PTO to the bargaining unit nurses, Kadlec tallied the cost at $396,995 for 2016.
WSNA has filed an Unfair Labor Practice with the National Labor Relations Board alleging bad faith bargaining on the part of Kadlec.
At the same time, Kadlec’s refusal to concretely address nurse staffing levels on the units is leaving nurses with little or no time to take rest or meal breaks during their 8- to 12-hour shifts.
The two sides meet again on November 17, and the Registered Nurses are hopeful that their discussions with management will be more fruitful on that day.
The Kadlec RNs serving on the negotiations team are grateful for the community support, including the great turn-out for the “Patients Before Profits” rally on Monday. The RNs especially appreciate how much the community understands that the working conditions at issue in this contract are directly related to the quality of care delivered at Kadlec. The negotiating team welcomes and needs the continued support of the community via Facebook (www.facebook.com/kadlecrns), the online petition (http://wsna.to/KadlecPetition) and at upcoming events being planned.