The County contract transmittal is slow, but Inch by inch we remain persistently patient! 

Unless someone is not paying attention, it is no mystery why anger has been stoked. Nurses have compared the ridiculous and frustrating delay since our contract ratification vote on June 4 as “slower than molasses in the wintertime!”. Next stop? Presentation to the King County Council to recommend for passage on September 8, 2026. You fought for it and won it with consistent demonstrations of strength as union nurses!

To recap, following passage of the contract by the King County council on September 8, it goes directly to Executive Zahilay for signature. 10 days later, it becomes ordinance that will be implemented. We will provide an update after the September 8 hearing to the nurses so that all are informed on the progress of the contract as well as the effective date, once known. Then, we will publish the new contract to your WSNA webpage. Nurses are encouraged to monitor their pay statements in the first full pay period following the implementation date. We will remind the nurses on that specific date 😊. Please note that the retroactive general wage increase payment for all paid hours of 3.75% goes back to January 1, 2026. It may be a separate line item but should not be unclear in your pay statements.

Seattle King County public health nurses in the news!

We shared the long contract journey that nurses traveled with your bargaining team in our statewide WSNA August newsletter. Yes, it is impressive! Check it out here https://www.wsna.org/news/2026/the-path-to-a-breakthrough-public-health-contract

Union Steward training launches on September 16 on Microsoft Teams 7-8:30 pm

Have you ever wondered and wanted to know more about:

Learning how to make changes in the workplace? 

Leading your co-workers to take action? 

Laying the foundation for a strong contract and enforcement during the term of the current contract?

Become a WSNA Unit Steward Today!

Nurses will learn Union 101 and progress on active issues 

How to read our union contract

 Formal grievance process

 Meeting representation and Site Rep or Steward rights

Please RSVP. The RSVP link is https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/MXZLyGCC9Z

https://wsna.to/BasicSteward

You can read the August 31 update regarding the supervisors CHSS arbitration win here; yet another saga brought by the persistence of the WSNA nurses!  https://www.wsna.org/union/seattle-king-county-health-dept-supervisors/update/4a8aad83-6d0b-42c7-9d4d-54627d49fca5/wsna-contract-and-chss-arbitration-status-updates

Questions about this email? Contact Nurse Rep Tara Barnes or one of your local unit officers with this link to your WSNA local unit webpage with officer contact info, your last contract and related documents, and an archive of all local unit communications https://www.wsna.org/union/seattle-king-county-health-dept-staff

Here is the link to the TA summary of the new contract for your reference in the interim, which is available on your webpage under contract related documents - https://cdn.wsna.org/assets/local-unit-assets/seattle-king-county-health-dept-staff/2026-05-26_TA-Summary.pdf