Per Diem Grievance Settlement: Established Full Shift Lengths
WSNA and PeaceHealth have reached a Letter of Understanding (LOU) resolving our most recent grievance over per diem scheduling.
Article 5.4.2 requires per diem nurses to provide availability that aligns with their unit’s established full shift lengths. The meaning of “established full shift lengths” has been a point of contention.
The LOU clarifies that definition and how per diem nurses will be scheduled if a unit eliminates a full shift length, such as when it no longer has FTE nurses working eight-hour shifts.
Know Your Contract: Article 7.8, Work on Day Off
Knowing your contract helps you protect your rights and make sure you receive the pay you have earned. We are launching a series of contract highlights to help nurses understand and use the protections we have negotiated.
Article 7.8 provides “time-and-one-half pay for nurses with a 0.9 FTE or higher who work their scheduled shifts during a workweek and are called in on a scheduled day off that same week.” Picking up open shift requests counts for that OT. Low census, prescheduled PTO, and mandatory education count toward meeting your 0.9 FT requirement.
Why does this matter? A 0.9 FTE nurse typically works three 12-hour shifts, totaling 36 hours per week. When that nurse works any additional shift-or part of an additional shift, Article 7.8 ensures qualifying hours are paid at time and one-half, including the first four hours before reaching 40 hours that week. (This does not apply if you are picking up hours for a colleague).
Check your paystub when you work an extra shift. Make sure you receive the premium pay you have earned. If you have questions, contact Jared at [email protected].
Cafeteria Time: Tuesday, November 3 | 1130–1300
Stop by the cafeteria to connect with your union, ask questions, or say hello. Nurses who stop by can enter a drawing for a $25 Fred Meyer gift card.
We will not hold an evening meet up on November 3 because it is Election Night. Make sure you have time to return your ballot!
Hospital Staffing Committee: Wednesday, November 4 | 0800
The next Hospital Staffing Committee meeting will include a review of Assignment Despite Objection (ADO) forms and further discussion of several staffing plans that were not approved at the last meeting.
These decisions affect our patients, our working conditions, and every nurse at St. Joe’s. Join us to hear the discussion and show your support for staffing plans that meet the needs of nurses and patients.
Join the Hospital Staffing Committee meeting.
Make Your Voice Heard at the Ballot Box
As nurses, we see how public policy affects our patients, our profession, and our working conditions. Voting in the general election gives us a voice in those decisions.
Make a plan to complete your ballot and return it to an official ballot drop box. Whoever you support, make sure your voice is heard.
Review the WSNA PAC’s 2026 endorsements.
In solidarity,
Laura Bayes, Co-Chair
Amber Pouley, Co-Chair
Jenn Engelhart, Co-Secretary
Laura Sherwood, Co-Secretary
Tracy Pullar, Treasurer
Stacy Gaggia Libby, Grievance Officer
Celeste Montoy-Seimears, Membership Officer
Tracy Taylor, Membership Officer
Kristin Malmo, Communications Officer
Kelly Carroll, Communications Officer
Errin Hull, Co-Occupational Health and Safety Officer
Jessica Moran, Co-Occupational Health and Safety Officer
Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Jared Richardson, [email protected].