Stop by for some Street Tacos, Chips & Salsa from COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria

DATE: Tuesday, March 11
TIME: 1815 - 1945
LOCATION: San Juan Conference Room at the hospital

Topics of the evening:

· Just Cause

· Job Postings

JUST CAUSE - What is it and why does it matter?

Even the best nurses can make mistakes, which is why most union contracts include language protecting workers from discipline without just cause. That means your employer cannot discipline you for any reason; under your union contract, Employers need to prove they’ve met seven specific standards to demonstrate they have just cause for disciplining a nurse in our bargaining unit. Unless they meet all seven standards, they would not have just cause for discipline and could not penalize a nurse under your contract.

Those seven standards are:

1. Management must give employees fair notice of the rule they’re accused of violating. Management must show that you knew about a rule before they can discipline you for violating it. They might do this through mandatory trainings, classes during orientation, or by distributing a rule via email to all employees.
2. The rule must be reasonable. Management doesn’t have just cause for discipline if they’re enforcing an unreasonable rule, even if you knew the rule exists. If your manager is trying to enforce a rule that doesn’t make sense for your unit, it might not be a reasonable rule.
3. Management must have done a thorough investigation before imposing discipline. If management did only a partial investigation before disciplining you or if crucial evidence of a violation only turned up after you were disciplined, they did not complete a thorough investigation before disciplining you.
4. Management’s investigation must have been fair and objective. If your manager only talked to other managers or didn’t talk to everyone who witnessed the alleged violation, they have not completed a fair and objective investigation.
5. Management must have proof the violation actually occurred. If management disciplines you because they have a hunch you’ve violated a rule but no proof, they have not met the standard for just cause.
6. Management must have enforced the rule evenhandedly. If management has never enforced this rule before or imposed less serious penalties in the past, they have not met the standard for just cause. Likewise, if management is harder on some employees than others when it enforces this rule, it’s not applying the rule evenhandedly and does not have just cause.
7. The penalty must be proportionate to the violation. Management must take things like the seriousness of the rule they’re alleging you’ve violated and your length of service into account when it decides to impose discipline. If you’ve received a serious penalty for a minor violation or for your first offense after a long history as an employee in good standing, your employer may not have just cause discipline

Just cause protections are one of the biggest benefits of union representation, for more on how to enforce your rights reach out to one of your WSNA officers today!

Job Postings

When Multiple job postings turn up (Materialized), We encourage you to apply for all multiple positions. We want to ensure that seniority and experience is honored.

Cafeteria time with WSNA

DATE: Friday March 14
TIME: 1130 - 1300
LOCATION: Hospital cafeteria

Stop by and enter to win a $25 gift card!

Look for WSNA blue!

WSNA Local Unit Officers: Liz Rainaud, - Co-chair Kyla Malean – Co-chair Kim McCann, Secretary Rachel Yates – Treasurer Mackenzie Anderson – Grievance Crissi Franulovich – Grievance Abu Cameron – Grievance and Membership Katy Page - Grievance and Membership Jill Schmidt - Membership

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Barbara Friesen at bfriesen@wsna.org 206-575-7979 ext. 305