Central Bargaining Day 8 Update

On June 20, management offered an 8%, 3%, and 3% wage proposal but have not agreed to eliminating the “ghost steps” in the wage scale which force nurses at certain steps to wait two years until they receive a step increase.  We believe that management’s insistence on maintaining ghost steps impedes recruitment and retention efforts as many hospitals have started to move away from this practice.

Management's proposed Pool Nurse terms require individuals to:

• Schedule for open shifts, completing 72 hours quarterly.
• Work one holiday annually.
• Float as part of a regular rotation.
• In return, Pool nurses will receive a 15% differential on all hours.
• Step increases will occur after 1275 hours worked, with a limit of one step increase per year."

We have not agreed on this as we want to ensure clarity with some additional language, but we are very close. This may settle the current grievance we have as well.

A Tentative Agreement (TA) has been reached on Low Census Days. Under this agreement, mandatory low census hours will be capped at ninety-six (96) hours annually for both full-time and part-time employees.

As we said, this was a very short session, but we were able to hear management’s additional proposals.  Our next sessions are July 25 and 31!

T-Shirts

XL and XXL T-shirts will be available next week during our rounds!

Hospital Staffing Committee

Changes to the staffing plan will be voted on at the next meeting. Management wants to slightly change ED grid to flex with patient census. We as the WSNA committee members are not in favor of any staffing changes that would worsen ratios. Due to the most recent staffing law, any changes to ratios must be greater than 50% voting yes. Half of the voting members are staff nurses, so standing together means they cannot change it. Dr. Jones is no longer able to veto, which is great!

One other change that we are pushing for is mother baby is supposed to be on what’s called the A1 standard. While we mostly meet those standards, when there are none to very few patients on that unit we are understaffed according to that standard. So, we will recommend that change.

A lot of discussion in staffing committee ADOs about level loading. This continues to be an issue, especially with mid shift changes due to rapid ICU census change as an example. This has been escalated to upper management. Middle management was able to help give background and more information, but unable to offer a solution.

We had one ADO about a pregnant nurse not wanting to take a COVID patient. Legally, this situation would require a doctor’s note. Same if a staff member was immunocompromised and being assigned patients with a highly contagious condition. They need a doctor’s note if they are unable to care for a specific patient population or condition.

CNO Kelly Allen mentioned that in 2027 they will want to start introducing virtual nurses.

Sometime soon, Ascom One should be replacing rover phones.

Conference Committee

It came to the officers’ attention that a nurse, who had been considering transitioning into a Retired Pool status, that a position needed to be located on a unit that the nurse has achieved competencies.  It has been the expectation of the nurses that the employer should value nurses who have dedicated their work to Confluence and wish to continue to offer their experience and work in the Retired Pool status. The employer made it clear that they wanted to ensure that nurses who moved into this role would maintain competencies and would need to reach out to a department manager to secure a position.

Benefits Committee

This is a quarterly meeting and will meet next on Wednesday, July 16 at 0800. If you would like to be a part of this committee or are curious about the process, please plan on attending! We would like to see two nurses on this committee, one primary and one alternate. This meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 16 at 0800 in the Administrative Conference Room 3 or if you would like a virtual option, please email Brianna Winstanley for the link Brianna.Winstanley@confluencehealth.org.

Grievances

ED Low Census

This grievance was filed for a low census implementation that resulted in the changing of the ED’s hospital staffing plan. This grievance has been withdrawn at step 2 after reaching a settlement with the employer.

1. WSNA will withdraw their proposed remedy for back pay and PTO restoration.
2. The current staffing plan will be followed.
3. Kelly Allen and Brittney Lamb will develop a proposal to address Emergency Department RN floating standards, low census protocols, and a training plan for nurses needing additional support regarding tasks not routinely performed. This proposal will be sent prior to the July 2025 Nurse Staffing Committee meeting so it can be voted on during the meeting.

RBS Oscopy

This grievance involves the change in working conditions in the Oscopy Unit. Nurses have been told that they must create their schedule that would not lead to a potential for RBS or waive. This has been moved for arbitration review.

Open Officer Positions

Sadly, we say goodbye to Karen Doiron from her position as Secretary. Karen was a wonderful asset to our bargaining unit, and we are sorry to see her leave. Karen has taken an educator position on MOU! This leaves two open positions and if you are interested in either, please reach out to an Officer.

WSNA Membership

If you are not a WSNA member please consider completing a membership application today! Just click on the link! https://wsnaonlineapplicationportalwsnaprod.powerappsportals.com/

YOU ARE WSNA

In solidarity,

Open- Chair
Stephanie Gates- Co-Chair
Open- Secretary
Simon Morton- Treasurer
Paul Molenaar- Membership 
Brittney Lamb- Grievance Officer
Isaiah Ray- Grievance Officer