On Tuesday, we met with management virtually and presented our opening proposals. We’re proposing that certain provisions specific to per diems be written up as a “Memorandum of Agreement,” which will accompany the NICU Agreement that the full-time and part-time nurses bargained last year – that is, the whole contract *plus* the Memorandum would apply to all NICU nurses, and all NICU nurses would vote to ratify it. When the contract and the Memorandum expire (we proposed the Memorandum expire on Dec. 31, 2025, same as the contract), NICU nurses will negotiate as one group and have one contract for all of us.

In our proposals for the Memorandum, we included:

• Just cause language, preventing per diem nurses from being terminated or disciplined without reason
• Language that secured the minimum work availability, so we are protected even if the policy is changed in the future
• Moving per diems lower on the low census order so we are less likely to be cancelled
• Adjustments to scheduling language that allow us to be more flexible with weekends and also work with NICU's self-scheduling

We also proposed that per diems have to work the equivalent of .3 FTE in order to qualify for an incentive shift.

We expect management to send their counter-proposals to us on Wednesday. We’ll continue keeping you updated!

Please contact your nurse rep, Brenda Balogh, with additional questions at bbalogh@wsna.org.

In solidarity, your bargaining team,

June Everson RN
Erin Pearson RN
Victoria Thiry RN