On Nov. 19, 2021, your contract bargaining team met with hospital management for our seventh contract negotiation session. We made some progress on language, however management disregarded concerns related to mandatory overtime, floating and incentive pay that will ensure that holes in the schedule are filled. The bargaining team was left stunned when a member of management stated something to the effect of “Nurses who call off are responsible for mandatory overtime” and “sick calls aren’t about burnout, a lot of sick calls happen on payday Friday”. We had hoped that management would own how burnout, lack of staff and dangerous working conditions impact morale and retention, but they didn’t.

Management stuck to its wage proposal of 2.5% a year, though they did come back with an additional market adjustment for nurses toward the bottom of the wage scale.

Please sign our petition and share with your friends, family and commu­nity members if you haven’t already. The petition will be closing on Nov. 23, so please sign by then. On Nov. 30 at 0800 you are invited to join us by the coffee shop. We will be gathering there prior to delivering the hundreds of petition signatures to Cherelle Montanye in administration. Please call 206-575-7979 ext. 0 to RSVP. We plan on broadcasting the petition delivery on Facebook live as well. Members of the negoti­a­tion team have access to physical copies of the petition if you prefer to physi­cally sign.

We meet next with management on Nov. 29 and 30.

Please display the negotiation car signs in your car window while at work. Also, please remember to wear your WSNA badge holders, stickers and buttons to show your support for a fair contract.

In Solidarity,

your negotiating team: Karla Fowler, Local Unit Chair – ICU; Sarah Rice, Member at Large – Cath Lab; Mike Rogen, Member at Large – ER; Jennifer Buckhalter, Grievance Officer – Oncology; Elena Brent – Clinics; Christine Mitchell – Float Pool; Elizabeth Brassfield – Medical; Kathy Arnesen – Surgical; Annie Johnson – Pre Op

Please contact Travis Elmore, WSNA Nurse Rep at telmore@WSNA.org or 206-575-7979 ext. 3117 with questions or to find out what you can do to get a fair contract!