Late last week WSNA received a proposal from Management for a retention bonus of $5000 for a 2-year commitment. This amount would be prorated based on your FTE. For instance, if you are a 0.6 FTE, you would receive $3000 in exchange for agreeing to remain at the UW for 2 years. The agreement does not appear to include per diems even though they have a 4- shift per month requirement and are an invaluable part of the RN workforce at UWMC.

Your WSNA team met with management on Thursday, Oct. 21 and proposed a $10,000 bonus for a 1 year commitment. These are the same terms UWMC is offering as sign-on bonuses to new nurses. We included per diems, pro-rated based on their shift obligation. We asked that a 0.8 FTE and above be considered full-time and not pro-rated. We also included a pro-rated payback in case circumstances in a nurse’s life change. We included language about extenuating circumstances such as military deployment, layoffs, etc. where a nurse would not be required to pay back the bonus.

Management responded with the same $5000 amount and 2-year commitment, no money for per diems, full payback if separating, etc. They did accept a few items that we had proposed such as layoffs and extenuating circumstances language.

Your WSNA bargaining team members feel this amount is not sufficient to increase retention and that you deserve more! The fact is, nurses have enticing choices around the Puget Sound region. We will be considering the UWMC’s response but would like to hear from you. We are committed to solidifying this as soon as possible and have arranged to meet again on Thursday the 28^th in an effort to reach a final agreement. Thanks for all of your dedication and hard work!

Questions and comments? Please contact one of your WSNA officers or your WSNA Nurse Representative. Contact information is in the ribbon above.