Today we are meeting with management for our fifth bargaining session. We have made it clear again and again that replacing charge nurses with Clinical Assistant Nurse Managers is something we will not accept. Every time a CANM takes a charge assignment, MultiCare is taking money out of the pockets of union families and shifting it into management’s budget.

Each CANM used as a charge nurse removes the equivalent of a 0.6 FTE from union nurses. That is a direct cut to union jobs and a direct hit to the stability of our workforce.

This is about more than money. When CANMs take charge roles, experienced and skilled RNs are pushed out of critical leadership positions on the floor. Union nurses lose opportunities to grow, to lead, and to advance their practice. These losses weaken our units and undermine the professional strength of our workforce.

We have presented multiple proposals that guarantee the charge role remains a union nurse role. We are holding firm. Today we are launching our Charge Nurses Are Union Nurses campaign.

We are asking every WSNA member to sign a card affirming their support for this demand. Starting tomorrow, blue Union cards will be available at the hospital so nurses can show management that we stand together and that we expect the charge nurse role to return to the bargaining unit where it belongs. A designated area will be available for you to return your signed card.

Details from today’s negotiations and more information about the campaign will be shared tonight at Rosie’s Roundup at 2000. You can join the meeting via Teams by following the link below.

When we speak with one voice, we are powerful. When we act together, we are unstoppable. Let us show management that our unity is not a slogan. It is our strength, our leverage, and our path to winning a contract that respects every nurse in this hospital. Together we will protect our work, our profession, and our union.

In solidarity,
Your bargaining team
Crystal Anderson
Randi Neff
Michele Christianson
Rosie Robertson
Erin Pearson
Cameron Warriner

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Jared Richardson, jrichardson@wsna.org.