Your opportunity to vote on our tentative agreement is almost here! Your bargaining team strongly recommends a YES vote. Ballots will hit inboxes starting tomorrow, May 22, at 0630. Between now and then, here’s what you should know:

Question: What’s in the new TA?

Answer: a lot of new wins! Click here for a TA summary, which has all the details on the changes we’ve made since March:

• $4.25/hour raise for all steps in Year 1, plus 3.25% in Year 2 and 3% in Year 3
• Elimination of ALL ghost steps
• Wages that surpass St. John at Step 16 and PHSW at Step 22
• 10.6% increase to evening and night shift differentials
• Tier 1 retail pharmacy access guaranteed in Bellingham and Ferndale within 45 days of ratification
• No change to EIB — no MOU
• Hospice MOU integrated into the main contract
• Current hospice mileage language maintained
• Maintaining double-time benefits

Question: But isn’t management making that pharmacy change anyway?

Answer: Yes, but the MOU we negotiated guarantees the new pharmacy benefit is here to stay. Management’s announcement yesterday showed us PeaceHealth has the power to make changes in the middle of the benefits year – something we suspected but never knew for sure.  Our TA’s language, however, gives us a new tool to maintain the Tier 1 pharmacy benefit they’re rolling out facility-wide. The pharmacy MOU in our TA guarantees Tier 1 pharmacy coverage at locations in Bellingham and Ferndale – something management has never come close to putting on paper before now – unless PeaceHealth opens its own Tier 1 pharmacy locally. That language means we can hold them accountable through the grievance process and an arbitrator would have the power to impose financial penalties by forcing management to reimburse nurses and make them whole if PeaceHealth goes back on its word.

Yesterday’s announcement said Tier 1 pharmacy benefits are coming, but our TA guarantees they’re here to stay. That’s an unprecedented win nurses only achieved by working together.

Question: Can I see the TA itself?

Yes! A copy will be included with your ballot and we’ll have copies on-site in the Physician’s Dining Room for you to review Thursday and Friday. If you want to take a look before then, click the link below.

Some reminders about how to read the TA document:

• Text in black hasn’t changed – it's in the current contract already.
• Text in red signifies a change from our current contract. If the language is struck through, we removed it from the contract. If the language is underlined, we added it to the contract.
• Text in green signifies language that moved – it’s already in our current contract, but it was relocated in the TA. For example, the new Article 19 incorporates MOU 7 (Hospice Nurses) into the body of the contract. On Page 79 of the TA, you’ll see the current MOU 7 struck through with much of the language in green. That means the language was moved but not totally deleted.
• New for this TA: text highlighted in yellow signifies a change from our March TA.

Question: How do I vote?

Answer: Based on our bargaining unit's record-breaking turnout in March, we think it’s safe to say St. Joe’s nurses like electronic voting! We’re using the same system for this week’s vote.

WSNA nurses in good standing will receive a ballot tomorrow morning via their personal email. Voting opens at 0630 on Thursday, May 22, and closes at 2030 on Friday, May 23. We will know the vote count shortly after 2030 on Friday.and share the results ASAP.

If you have not received your ballot by 0840 on Thursday, May 22, email JRichardson@WSNA.org so we can troubleshoot and make sure you are able to vote.

Still have questions? Come ask us in person or online!

Bargaining team members and WSNA staff will be on-site in the cafeteria today, May 21, from 1800-2100. Can’t join us in person? Click here to ask your question virtually through Teams. (Remember to log out of your PeaceHealth account and log in to your personal account before joining.)

We’ll also be on site in the Physician’s Dining Room from 0630 to 2030 while voting takes place. If you need help reading the redline of our tentative agreement, have questions about some of the changes we negotiated, or have trouble voting, come see us!

Finally: since March, record numbers of nurses have observed negotiations, answered surveys, collected picket pledges, reposted on Instagram, turned out for Hospital Staffing Committee, spoken up at City Council meetings, brought kids to the pickets, and more, and our work has paid off. The wins in our new TA wouldn’t have been possible without every single nurse who fought for what we deserve. If nurses vote to ratify our new TA, it won’t mean that fight is over; it will mean it’s just beginning.

In solidarity,

Your WSNA Bargaining Team
Laura Bayes, Robin Cully, Jenn Engelhart, Rhonda Tull, Tracy Pullar, Amber Pouley, Jen Hampton, Kristin Malmo, Errin Hull, Kelly Carroll, and Jessica Moran