A nurse recently complained about the proposed wage increases. She stated she had more than 30 years of experience and the proposed agreement left her getting nothing.

That caused us to look at the pay scales and see what a nurse at the top of the compressed 25 year scale would receive. We noticed Step 26 of the current wage scale was not included in the table and the percent column did not capture the additional 4% we were able to achieve. Please see the attached scale with Step 26 on the current wage scale and the actual total percent we will be voting on.

It is true all nurses with more than 25-years of experience will be receiving the same across the board increase. It is not true nurses with more than 30 years will receive nothing. The nurses on the top end of the scale have higher wages and higher percentages of increases due to the compression of the scale. For the nurses that are at Step 30 on the current wage scale they will go from $70.40 to $78.43, which is an 11.41% wage increase. For a .9FTE nurse that would be an increase of more than $15,000 a year.

Our bargaining team pressed as hard as we could while advocating for every nurse. We achieved substantial increases for everyone and do recommend a “Yes” vote.

The vote to ratify this agreement will be an in-person vote. No absentee ballots or proxies.

Vote:

Date: April 4, 2023
Time: 4 – 8 p.m.
Place: Dining Rooms 1 & 2 (in the cafeteria across from the tray return)

Questions/Concerns? Contact any WSNA Local Unit Officer or WSNA Nurse Repre­sen­ta­tive Barbara Friesen at bfriesen@wsna.org 206-575-7979 ext. 3056.