Thank you to everyone who showed up to our Monday evening virtual meeting!

Negotiations Updates

• We’re pushing for changes that make it easier to move up the step placement ladder and that appropriately credit your experience both before and after you’re hired at Island.
• We’re also fighting for a wage scale that catches up with area hospitals and keeps pace with them in the years to come.
• Management has been slow to respond to our wage proposals and even slower to move from its opening offer. Their current proposal would still leave us a dollar or more behind Skagit for every hour worked in year one and even further in years two and three. They’ve made it clear they think the culture at Island is enough to keep you here even if wages don’t keep up with other facilities.

Management is also asking for big changes:

• A shift in PTO accruals that separates sick leave and makes less of your time accessible for vacation.
• Mandatory floating facility-wide, including closed units, with no premium. Management has not brought up any discussion of a separate float pool and still hasn't fully elaborated on how their current floating plan would be implemented.

We’ve heard your priorities and know the best way to recruit and retain nurses is expanding your access to benefits like paid leave and making sure you’re paid fairly for every hour you work, especially if you’re away from your home unit.  Now we need your help so we can fight for those priorities at the table.

Help us show management the bargaining unit is listening! 

1. Share your story: can you afford to keep working at Island if things don’t change? Why or why not?
2. Follow @islandwsna on Instagram and share posts to your feed and with your friends 
3. Put your car signs, stickers, buttons, and water bottles where folks can see them! Send pictures to @islandwsna on Instagram and we’ll repost them
4. Join us at the next Board of Commissioners meeting on July 27 at 7:30 a.m. at the Hospital. This public meeting is where the Hospital’s leaders get monthly updates on what’s happening at Island. Attend in your WSNA tees, buttons, and stickers so the Board knows Island’s RNs are paying attention.

In solidarity,

Adrian Fewing, Chair
Heather Bush, Vice-Chair 
Mary Wexman and Kate Scherer, Grievance Officers

For any questions, please email WSNA Nurse Representative Grace Jones at gjones@wsna.org.