While our sweaters were merry and bright, the economic responses we received from Sacred Heart were anything but.

Let’s recap management proposals

• Rejected increasing PTO accruals
• Rejected increasing PTO maximums
• Rejected removal of PTO penalty for EIT access-
• Removing nurse’s ability to cash out and transfer PTO to EIT
• Removing ability for part time nurses to receive in lieu benefits (go forward basis)
• Rejected NEW premium for nurses floating off their unit
• Rejected NEW premium for precepting daily students
• Rejected Christmas Eve as a holiday
• Rejected paying holiday time for all hours worked on actual holidays
• Rejected recognizing nurse’s experience for all years as registered nurses related to step placement
• Rejected adding any additional steps to the wage scale
• Rejecting proposal to eliminate all ghost steps
• Rejected increases to the following premiums/differentials
  • Charge nurse premium
  • Float pool premium
  • Weekend differential
  • Certification premium
  • Education premium
  • Standby premiums
• Proposed worse health insurance language that gives the Employer full discretion to change nurse’s health insurance
  • Management initially said the reason for this worse proposal was to respond to the aggressive proposal our Union sent. This felt retaliatory to our team as we presented direct feedback members and expressed clearly to management that health insurance is a ratification issue for our bargaining unit.

Management is proposing the following wages

• 0.5% market adjustment three pay periods after ratification and 2% across the board raises in all three years
• .25 cents increase to night shift differential (after ratification)
• .25 cents increase to evening shift differential beginning January 2027
• .25 cents increase to preceptor premium beginning January 2027
• $1/ hr premium for Wound/Ostomy nurses
• Eliminate 1 ghost step at Step 18

Management rejected any notion that Puget Sound area hospitals are wage comparators for Sacred Heart and shared their comparators as Deaconess and Valley hospital. They stated their market comparators were the reason they rejected many of our premium changes. In the same session they also expressed they wanted to be market competitive and market leaders. “Administrative burden” was also cited multiple times by management as an inability or justification to not implement new premiums or change pay practices.

We compiled some of our team’s thoughts and feelings about yesterday and we encourage you to read through them. We are nurses working at the bedside like all of bargaining unit and it was difficult to receive this yesterday from those are supposed to know us, care for us, and ease our way.

What else have we learned?

The Employer finally responded to our request for information regarding multiple working conditions of our nurses.

• Since January 1, 2023, there have been over 850 code greys called at Sacred Heart
• Since January 1, 2023, through September 30, 2025, our nurses have reported the following injuries and incidents and at least 130 of these nurses required follow-up care.
  • Back injuries: 63
  • Needlestick injuries: 37
  • Injuries from a fall: 12
  • Other on-the injuries (includes all other causes of loss for a reported incident, injury, 
    illness or exposure): 215

Many of our security enhancement proposals have been rejected and management shared in previous sessions that they rely on security to make best practice recommendations regarding security in the facility. While our nurses appreciate our security workers, we feel there are large gaps in our workplace protections against workplace violence

In summary, our team felt scrooged yesterday. It was a tough day, and we are disappointed with our Employer.

What can our nurses do?

Participate in bargaining- be an observer! WSNA nurses can sign up for a full day or a half day and watch how the contract is bargained! Blue shirts are provided if you don’t have one. Come watch how it’s done and support the bargaining team. Check out Chloe Salvatore’s experience below as she has observed.

Next chances to observe- January 7, January 21, and January 27

How else can we get involved?

1. Become a unit steward- level up your union nurse knowledge. Attend a one-hour training at your preferred time. Nurses will learn about representation rights, how to advocate for unsafe staffing, helping colleagues find and understand their contract, how to know when the contract is being violated and so much more. Sign up today!
2. Participate in Tuesday Bluesday- we’ve heard Sacred Heart is attempting to enforce their dress code. We also know they aren’t doing equitably across the hospital. Nurses can still wear blue colored scrubs or scrub caps to show their support.
3. Report unsafe staffing- when you are asked to participate in the break buddy system, file a staffing analysis form. A break buddy is when nurses agree to watch each other’s patients and double their assignments. This is never safe, and nurses need to be reporting this when it happens. Every time. These reports can help us advocate for break relief nurses.
4. Read updates from our union! We are aware Providence is operating their own blog with their updates and their proposed language. We encourage nurses to get their information for our union who legally represent our interests related to wages, hours, and working conditions. Please remember the documents management is sharing only reflect what they are asking of our union. It does not represent any conversation had about it nor does it demonstrated any agreement made on that proposed language.
5. Follow social media- Join our nurses private facebook group or follow us on Instagram “nursesattheheart” for real time updates including videos from our bargaining team.

A HUGE thank you to our PICU nurses for feeding our bargaining team.

Questions? Contact an officer, a bargaining team member, or your WSNA Nurse Representative Alle Machorro at amachorro@wsna.org