Tacoma General per diem nurses join WSNA

A unit of more than 100 per diem nurses with MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital voted overwhelmingly to join WSNA.

The voting took place Feb. 23 and per diem nurses voted 97 percent in favor of joining the union.

Per diem nurses work on an as-needed basis rather than on a fixed schedule.

“Many of our per diem nurses work full-time hours despite being per diem,” said Danielle Sloan, who recently went per diem at Tacoma General to accommodate her children’s schedule. “We have experienced significant issues on our unit with our holiday commitments, including management making last-minute demands that we work on a holiday. We’ve also been told previously if we didn’t like something to grieve it only to be reminded that we can’t [because we’re not represented by the union]."

WSNA is working to negotiate a memorandum of understanding to bring the per diems under the protection of the current RN contract so they have access to the same wage scale, benefits, and workplace protections as the rest of Tacoma General’s registered nurses.

More than 3,000 nurses joined WSNA in 2025 and membership is at an all-time high. If you know of a nurse who wants to be represented by WSNA, reach out to organize@wsna.org.