We Expect Integrity.

Yesterday, we began the day with our fearless leader and advocate, Kara Yates, speaking directly to the hospital leadership about their inadequate and inaccurate communication regarding our contract extension agreement over the holiday weekend. She emphasized the importance of impact vs intent in communication, and the importance of trust in our bargaining process. The Hospital acknowledged that accurately communicating our agreements is an issue of integrity. We expect they will do better next time.

We Expect Fair, Competitive Wages That Match the Value You Bring.

The Hospital presented an economic proposal that it characterized as “extraordinary” and intended to “leapfrog negotiations forward.” While we appreciate the Hospital’s movement, we do not think wages that lag between 7% behind (at the top of scale) to 34% behind other West Coast Children’s hospitals (at the low end of the scale) are anywhere close to where we need to be. The Hospital’s proposal of a $2.75 increase to the current pay scale for all nurses in the first year does just that. For nurses at the beginning of the pay scale, the offer represents a $1.32 increase from their initial proposal, and at the end of the pay scale, it's a mere 5-cent increase.  A nickel, folks.

Their economic proposal also:

• Insisted that RNs in Eastern Washington make 10% less than all other RNs.
• Refused to engage on night shift, evening shift, and weekend differentials, or any other Article 9 premiums until we are much closer to an agreement on base wages.
• Reiterated their offensive takeaway that nurses must pay their own health care premiums.
• Denied any increase to nurses’ sick leave accruals.

Again, we think Children’s can do better.

Meal Waivers - Cease and Desist

The Hospital’s recent announcement of clocking for meal breaks and waiving your rights to your lunches was something they did without the Union’s knowledge or consent. Your union officers learned about the Hospital’s September 22 deadline for clocking in and out for meal breaks with the same emails from our leadership that you all received. The clocking out issue and the content of the waivers need to be bargained.  And although waiving rights to meal/rest periods and clocking out for breaks are included in the Hospital’s current bargaining proposals, clocking in/out for meals and the waiver associated with their impeding (self-imposed) deadline of Sept 22 was never seen, bargained, or approved by your union representatives. We have demanded to bargain and ask them to cease and desist until bargaining has occurred.

We DO NOT recommend our nurses fill out the waiver at this time.

We Expect SCH To Address Systemic Problems, Not Seek Legal Loopholes.

In its proposals, Seattle Children’s asks the Union to waive nurses’ meal and rest breaks instead of providing the break relief nurses we proposed. Rather than asking the Union to give up nurses’ much-needed time to rest, nourish, and regroup, the Hospital should invest in the break relief resources needed to ensure its nurses can do their jobs safely.

Seattle Children’s also asks the Union to give up nurses’ rights to go to court if they are discriminated against or harassed at work, denied their breaks, have their wages stolen, or are wrongfully discharged. Instead of seeking legal loopholes, we ask Seattle Children’s to address structural racism and other forms of bigotry head on and, again, invest in the kinds of break relief resources we are proposing that will make cases like the recent meal break class actions moot.

We Expect the Hospital to Prioritize Nurses’ Health and Safety.

Many of the Union’s proposals come with a dollar sign but are rooted in our concerns for nurses’ health and safety. Today, the Hospital rejected our request to define float pools that would set forth the different expectations for their roles and the scope of their nursing practice. Float pool nurses face the highest risk of being placed in situations that challenge their training and put their licenses at risk. They still want ICU nurses to float to the ED and are proposing that they will not be assigned as the primary nurse unless they are cross-trained and competent to do so. The implication remains that the critical care float pool could be expected to be trained in the ED, in addition to their ICU expertise. We don’t think the Hospital is seriously engaging in the health and safety risks behind our asks. They "kinda looked at (our) floating proposal," per their attorney.

After receiving the Hospital’s proposals, your bargaining team got to work immediately. We finalized and passed a revised attempt at a Preamble that remains committed to DEI and the ANA Code of Ethics. We included quoted language from our CNO and CMO in their 2022 Health Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan. This action was a committed attempt by our team, which we hope will be accepted and lead to a tentative agreement.

We ended the day with a quick turnaround on a pay scale proposal. We matched the Hospital’s movement by coming down in year one at each step by the amount they went up in their morning proposal. The Union’s proposed wage scale is below.

Importantly, we explained why our proposals around sick leave accruals, night and weekend differentials, and other premiums will protect the health and safety not only of the nursing workforce but the patients we serve. We understand the risks when nurses are forced to come to work sick to care for immune-compromised kids or else risk discipline for attendance violations. We understand why having only brand new nurses on nights and weekends poses risks that could be avoided if SCH offered wage incentives that could keep experienced nurses in those hard to fill roles.

The Hospital had a hard stop at 5:15 p.m., and your negotiating team stayed until after dark to continue working on responses to other open items that impact your health, safety, & livelihoods.

Union’s Proposed Wage Scale

Wednesdays We Wear BLUE

Shout out to Urgent Care (Seattle) for wearing their WSNA Blue! This shows management that we are UNITED in this fight for a FAIR contract.

Come Observe!

Upcoming Bargaining Dates:

• September 8
• September 18

Meet us at 1916 Boren Avenue, 11^th Floor

Reach out to our WSNA Organizer Crystal Doll for more info: cdoll@wsna.org.

YOU ARE WSNA!

Do not hesitate to contact any of the officers if you have questions. All of our contacts are on our WSNA website. https://www.wsna.org/union/seattle-childrens-hospital. Also, utilizing our Instagram @sch_wsna offers quick updates and opportunities for DMs.

In solidarity,

Your Bargaining Team
Annika Hoogestraat, Kara Yates, Lindsey Kirsch, Sam Forte, Katie Podobnik, Therese Hill, Kelsey Gellner, AJ Nagal, Emma Gordon, Sarah Munro, Cody Ian, Lauren Lustyk, Regan Halom, Jon McAferty, Anne Marie Fountain and Bree Casas

WSNA Nurse Rep Linda Burbank at lburbank@wsna.org