Dear WSNA bargaining unit members at PHSW:

As you know, the Hospital ambushed its employees earlier this week by unilaterally imposing a vaccine mandate; the Hospital did this without bargaining with the Union. WSNA has demanded to bargain over this mandate and met earlier this week with PeaceHealth management to express our anger at how this decision was made without negotiating, with an apparently arbitrary timeline (which is not feasible if a nurse gets the Moderna series of shots), and with threats of termination during an unprecedented nursing crisis. That the Hospital took this extreme position without fulfilling its legal obligation to bargain with the Union is infuriating.

We are taking aggressive steps to counter the Hospital’s unilateral move and are working with the elected union leadership of PHSW to develop a planned response. PeaceHealth has informed WSNA that it is aware that some employees are planning a protest against the vaccine mandate in front of the Hospital this weekend. If you participate in any action on or adjacent to the Hospital, the Hospital may retaliate against you by imposing discipline or discharge. While you (as a citizen) are entitled to participate in any actions off-campus and away from the Hospital, WSNA discourages you from doing so in or around the Hospital.

If you have questions or comments, please contact your nurse representative, Mara Kieval, BSN, RN at mkieval@wsna.org.