WSNA Contract Update

After what feels like a very long time since contract ratification, we are scheduled to meet with the King County Council on September 8. Assuming the Council passes the ordinance (for the contract), it will be sent to the Executive. The Executive then has 10 days to sign the ordinance. 10 days after the Executive signs the ordinance it becomes law and then it drops into the payroll cycle. 

 Contract Ratification & Implementation Process 

Let’s take a quick look at the timeline:

• July – August the County and WSNA engaged in numerous rounds of review and edits to ensure alignment and accuracy.
• On July 14, the County sent (transmitted) the contract to the Council for review.
• On June 3, Bargaining Unit Nurses unanimously voted ‘YES’ to ratify a new contract after nearly a year and a half of rigorous bargaining.
• On May 14, we reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the County after a lengthy and rigorous year and a half fight for a FAIR and STRONG contract. Your bargaining team recommended a ‘YES’ vote.

It is disappointing that this process has taken this long, despite WSNA’s efforts to expedite finalization of the contract. We have communicated this frustration with the County. In the future, we hope that any unnecessary delays can be avoided. The nurses should NOT have to wait for their money.

CHSS Arbitration Update

On August 11, WSNA Attorney Juliana DeFilippis and I, met with the County (County Prosecutor Ajla Aljic, County Labor Relations Josh Marburger, and Deputy Director Sasha De Leon). Below you will find a summary of our discussion and some thoughts around next steps. 

What did the County propose as a solution?

The County came into the meeting ready with a proposed plan to implement the Arbitrator's award, to the extent they claim they are able. The County's proposed plan is to post and fill two (2) more PHSS positions, specifically:

• One (1) PHSS for Kent to cover First Steps & WIC.
• One (1) PHSS position to cover Columbia and North Meridian (combined) First Steps & WIC programs.
  • The County claimed it is combining Columbia and North Meridian to ensure Supervisors have an "equitable distribution of staff" so one location doesn't have more staff than another location, based on client needs and where the greatest need for services exist. 

The County claimed it is not able to fill the PHSS position in White Center right now because of "financial constraints". Instead, White Center would be supported by the PHSS' currently supporting Federal Way/Midway. 

Where did the County place those "former" CHSS'?

• The County claimed that:
  • One CHSS was a special duty assignment, and they returned to their permanent position. 
  • One CHSS applied to and got an already vacant position that they were going to hire for anyway. 
  • One CHSS the County admitted they "found a place for them". 
• We asked the County for a formal write-up of the status of all removed CHSS. Their facts were a bit all over the place for this issue. 

Other issues discussed:

• We told the County that your current workloads are unacceptable. We told them the County needs to explain how these two new PHSS positions would adequately return your workloads to what they were before this misconduct. 
• We raised the fact that one core issue of this problem is also about our staff nurses having NURSE supervision. We said we need to see assurances that staff nurses will have adequate NURSE supervision. 
• We confirmed that the below (already posted) three PHSS positions are NOT considered a remedy to this issue at all. The County agreed. 
  • PHSS - Kids Plus Program posted February 20, 2026
  • PHSS - Buprenorphine Pathway Clinic posted June 16, 2026
  • PHSS - Childcare Health Program posted July 1, 2026

What's next?:

• We asked the County for a formal offer/proposal in writing that we can present to all of you. They asked for two weeks to provide that agreement. We hesitantly accepted. Today, we sent a request for a status update to the County.
• We urged them to consider how to get funding for a third position or make any sort of commitment re: the third position. We emphasized to them over and over that we have lots of tools in our tool belt and it is up to our members where we go from here. 
• Once we receive the "offer" from the County, we will send it to you all to review and discuss. We will provide you more info about options (i.e., if we don't accept their offer, what are the other paths forward and their potential remedies). We can provide that info via email or in a meeting. We will have more info for you all when we see the formal offer, but an off-the-cuff response for right now:
  • We can reject the offer and pursue our legal tools (motion for sanctions & unfair labor practice), accept their offer, or counter their offer. 

STRONGER TOGETHER!

Questions? Contact your Local Unit Officers or WSNA Nurse Rep Linda Burbank lburbank@wsna.org