Your WSNA negotiating team met with management on March 19 for our third bargaining session. We came prepared to fight for a fair contract, but management presented us with an economic counterproposal that was deeply disappointing and out of touch with the realities our nurses face.

Management's Economic Counter-Proposal

Management called our initial economic proposal "totally unreasonable" and claimed the hospital is underwater by a million dollars implying that our wages and overtime were the reason the hospital was in the red.

While we brought comparable wages from other hospitals to back up our proposals, the employer brought none. Instead, they offered an insulting wage proposal:

• Wages: A mere 2% increase in Year 1, followed by 3% in Year 2 and 3% in Year 3.
• Recruitment and Retention: When we highlighted the need for competitive wages to retain staff, management's lead negotiator stated, "Are we having a hard time recruiting? No, we are turning people away" and "We are not having issues recruiting people". We strongly disagree. Looking at the roster, there is a steep drop-off of nurses after year 7. We do not want to rely on costly travelers or deal with the constant turnover of training replacements; we want to retain local nurses dedicated to this community.

The Fight for Clinic Nurses (One Pay Scale)

Management is firmly maintaining their stance to keep a separate, lower wage scale for Clinic RNs. We believe all RNs deserve the same pay, as it costs the same to live out here regardless of the department you work in.

Disappointingly, CNO Brenda Sharkey minimized the work of clinic nurses, stating that clinic patients are "hardly sick" and would go to the ED if they were, claiming clinic nurses basically just "get a weight, vitals, go through medications, and assist provider if needed or maybe educate if on a new medication.”

We know better. Clinic nurses practice at the full scope of their license, assessing and educating patients who are often in very bad shape—we have even recently had patients code in the clinics. Our patients deserve well-trained, dedicated nurses, and those nurses deserve equal pay and respect.

Other Key Items Discussed Today:

• Premiums: Management proposed minor increases to a few premiums: raising the night shift differential by $1.00 (to $5.75) and the Charge Nurse premium by $0.50 (to $4.00.
• Benefits, PTO, and Retirement: Management completely rejected our proposed improvements to healthcare, PTO, holidays, and retirement matching, proposing instead to maintain all current contract language. They also rejected our proposal for paid leave for bargaining.
• Consecutive Shifts: Management introduced a new proposal (Section 9.9) stating that employees may not work more than six (6) consecutive shifts without a full 24-hour break in service to address exhaustion and safety concerns.

Call to Action: Show Your Support!

Management needs to take us seriously. It is expensive to live here, and you deserve a wage that reflects the tourist-level prices of our community. Please wear a WSNA sticker or button to work to show management that you are paying attention and standing in solidarity with your bargaining team.

Next Steps: Our next bargaining sessions are coming up fast on March 26, and 27. We will keep pushing for the wages, equality, and respect you deserve. Stay tuned for more updates!

LOCAL UNIT MEETING – Wednesday March 25 5:30 - 8 pm

This meeting will be casual, you can drop in when you have time before or after a shift if you are working that day. Come talk with the bargaining team, and let’s get organized to come together for a better contract.

Chico’s Pizza - 4304 Pacific Way, Seaview, WA 98644

Our next bargaining sessions are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, March 26, and 27. We have sent additional dates to the employer for the month of April.

Stay tuned for more updates, and please reach out to the bargaining team if you have any questions!

In solidarity,
Brenda Slagle – Local Unit Chair
Marcey Frame - Local Unit Secretary/Treasurer
Brad Bell – Bargaining Team Member