The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the way we are all living our lives. This includes your bargaining team. We hope that you and your families are staying safe and healthy.

When the crisis first began to break out in Washington, we began work to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for nurses to address workplace safety and job protec­tions. We wanted to include our health-care partners who are members of SEIU 1199NW. We succeeded in reaching an agreement with hospital administration on Friday, April 10.

• Protections for nurses:
  • Nurses who miss work due to a “probable” exposure at the workplace (e.g. more likely than not that the exposure happened at work) will receive paid admin leave
  • Nurses will receive an additional 80 hours of PTO to use for COVID-related illness, regardless of whether it was due to workplace exposure or not. Immediate access to EIB with no waiting period
• Economic gains:
  • Pay protection through April 30, 2020
  • Ability to cash out PTO to help with economic hardships
  • Caps on PTO accruals lifted through the end of 2020
• Safety commitments & information to empower employees
  • Access to scrubs for all employees
  • Priority for testing nurses and health care workers
  • Written notice to nurses who have been exposed
• Protections on floating
  • Minimum training and orientation requirements spelled out
  • Can only be floated on regularly scheduled day and shift except in emergencies

We encourage all nurses to contact WSNA Nurse Rep. Hanna Welander as you have been, at hwelander@wsna.org. Your nurse rep will be happy to advise you about your rights under the MOU.

From your Local Unit Officers,

Laura Bayes, Geri Falacy, Shari Holst, Rhonda Tull, Robin Cully, Grace Schackel, Tracy Pullar, Darlyce Jerde, Susannah Shar, and Ryan Willis