On July 15, a King County Superior Court Judge granted WSNA’s motion to enforce and confirm the CHSS Arbitration Award. The Court unequivocally ordered that ‘the County shall comply with the arbitration award.’

ORDER GRANTING WASHINGTON STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION’S MOTION TO ENFORCE AND CONFIRM ARBITRATION AWARD

Question: Why were we back in court regarding the CHSS Arbitration when we had a favorable arbitration decision in August 2025, which was validated by the Superior Court in January 2026? 

Link to CHSS Arbitration Decision

Link to Motion to vacate CHSS Arbitration Award DENIAL 

Answer:

The County has failed to adhere to the arbitration decision and directives. Thus, we had to return to court to get an order directing them to comply.

As a reminder, this award clearly required the County to (1) either require CHSS' obtain a nurse license or replace the CHSS with an employee holding a nurse license; AND (2) work cooperatively with WSNA to replace the vacant positions. As far as we are aware, the County has yet to fulfill any of these requirements. Instead, we have received documentation that the County:

• Did not require CHSS' to obtain nurse licenses or replace CHSS' with new PHSS' holding a nurse license;
• Allowed former or current CHSS', or other non-nurse County employees, to perform job duties of PHSS';
• Increased the workload of existing PHSS' and made comments blaming the Union for this workload; and 
• Failed to address concerns of our members regarding the County's failure to comply with this award and the real-life impacts of that lack of compliance on our members' lives. 

We hope the Court's recent order will end the County's blatant refusal to comply with the award. We requested that by July 24, 2026, the County provide us with the details of its plan to fill the vacant PHSS positions and fully comply with the arbitration award. Otherwise, we are prepared to seek a contempt order from the Court. [Per WSNA Legal]

Public Health Nurses are, and always have been, a critical thread of the community’s fabric. We will continue to fight against the County’s efforts to erode Public Health Nurses from Public Health. 

STRONGER TOGETHER!

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