You have likely heard Overlake’s announcement that it entered into an affiliation agreement with MultiCare. WSNA learned of this from Overlake on Tuesday morning, about thirty minutes before Overlake began telling its own employees and making public announcements. WSNA has already filed a grievance and made an initial information request about the affiliation, and we are further scrutinizing and analyzing this news. During contract negotiations, beginning with our initial requests, WSNA repeatedly asked Overlake whether it plans to sell or affiliate, but Overlake refused to answer. As a result, we filed a “failure to provide information” unfair labor practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board, which remains pending.

We have heard nurses have asked at least one bargaining team member whether Overlake informed WSNA it planned to affiliate with MultiCare before Tuesday morning. Overlake did not. We understand there was a phrase in Overlake’s communication to nurses on Tuesday that may have implied WSNA knew of the affiliation with MultiCare before Tuesday morning. Again, we did not and any implication that we did is incorrect. Furthermore, Overlake has not provided us a copy of the affiliation agreement, which we requested Tuesday morning, so we do not even know its terms.

Your WSNA bargaining team continues our work to secure a strong contract. We are back at the bargaining table this Friday, May 24. Please wear your “I support my bargaining team” stickers this Friday, as well as your blue WSNA t-shirt. We will continue to keep you posted about the affiliation and the status of negotiations.

Join WSNA at our drop-in meetings!

For additional information and to have your questions answered and grab a snack, stop by the PACCAR Insight room on Thursday, May 23, between 5 -8 am or between 5 -8 pm to talk with members of the bargaining team and your WSNA Nurse Rep.

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Tara Barnes at tbarnes@wsna.org.