We met with the County virtually for our fourth bargaining session on April 23 in a joint session with the staff and supervisor nurse teams. While the County had promised us an economic offer, what we got was a partial economic proposal. The County proposed a generic formula that was used in calculating the cost of living (COLA) increase in our 2025 extension memorandum of agreement (MOA), which limits the wage increases to between 2 and 4% for each year of the contract. Importantly, the County failed to respond to our proposal for a market standard wage scale with 31 steps. This does not come close to informing your team in a meaningful way. We were informed that analysis is ongoing with respect to our proposal and that the County hopes to have a response when we meet again in May. We are disappointed that the County was not prepared to respond to what we have made clear is a top priority! Time is very short to make progress on this top priority issue, as the County budgetary process is occurring right now. Tick…tock! We were able to make progress by coming to some tentative agreements (TAs):

1.  Article 21.3 Regarding notice to WSNA if the County discontinues or restarts emergency medical leave.
2. New article 17: Giving the nurse the choice of type of leave to use for care of a child that is consistent with the Washington Family Care Act, which provides this already.
3. Article 14.4 Clarification-only: special duty pay does not include certain premiums.
4. Article 16.4 Clarification-only: use of accrued leave will be available for use in the first pay period following accrual.

We had in-depth discussions but are not quite at TAs yet about:

1. Article 6.10 Bilingual premium increase and expansion. We continue to gain clarity on process, eligibility, testing, approval, and other nuanced conditions to attain and maintain premium pay. Until we have responses to pertinent information about how the County’s proposal would impact specific nurses who are currently receiving bilingual premium, we cannot agree…. yet.
2. Article 10.7 We proposed that conversion of overtime to comp time ought not be limited at the end of each year, and any hours in excess of the existing cap could be used in the first three months of the following year. The County needs more nurses picking up overtime in those months during the Winter holidays and Flu season. The nurses need to be able to use that comp time. We see this as a win-win that we will continue to pursue at the next session.

The County made no additional reference to any other economic proposals, including the reduced parking rate for KCCF nurses at Goat Hill. KCCF nurses know all too well the significant value and safety of this contractual benefit. Our position has not changed!

Further, the County continues to reject our proposals regarding the following:

1. Providing nurses the ability to use the grievance procedure for discrimination claims.
2. Workplace Violence, staffing and breaks provision in alignment with applicable laws.

Calls to action!

Be an observer in May when we return to the bargaining table for several more sessions if you are not scheduled to work. Stay tuned for those dates! This is a powerful way to support your team in negotiating a contract that benefits ALL the staff nurses! We will provide the details to join and observer guidelines if you notify Nurse Representative Tara Barnes at tbarnes@wsna.org or a negotiation team member.

Story action: The time is NOW for us to flex our solidarity muscles! While we share the story, we do not share your name with the County. You may submit more than one story. Use the Forms link to select from the priority issues such as wages, bilingual premium, KCCF parking, Workplace violence, Telecommuting, Continuing education, Safe staffing, and Breaks provisions.

Stay tuned for details as we continue to prepare an event during Nurses Week, which is May 6-12 this year. The team is looking forward to celebrating with you! Go here, read their own words, and put a face to the name.

In unity,

Elena Schensted NFP Columbia City PH Center, Chair elenaschensted@yahoo.com

Stephen Lee RJC, Vice-Chair stephenlee26@gmail.com

Tami Nesler RJC, Grievance officer  tami.nesler@hotmail.com

Kiesha Garcia-Stubbs NFP Downtown PH Center, Grievance officer kaidgs96@gmail.com

Carolyn Clark KCCF, Grievance officer crclark333@gmail.com

WSNA Nurse Representative: Tara Barnes tbarnes@wsna.org