The energy from the membership helped fuel the bargaining team while pushing the employer to a settlement. After 14+ hours of negotiations, the parties reached an agreement with improvements on 4 issues:

1. Staffing –Incentive Pay for seasonal volumes and vacation coverage
2. Ratification Bonus – increased ratification bonus that narrows the gap to full retro pay
3. Walters – protections for Walters OR nurses hired before 1/1/2015 against cross-training to Main OR
4. Per Diems – Implement pay increases at the same time as implementation of new work requirements.

Wages

The bargaining team fought until the end of the night to make improvements in the negotiated pay increases of 3% upon ratification, 3.5% on 11/1/19 and 3% on 11/1/20. The employer would not move any further in this area. Obviously, we all would have liked to bring you bigger raises and we are disappointed. However, once implemented, your raises will put SJMC at or above the average for hospitals in the Seattle – Tacoma market.

Staffing

Nurses who pick up extra shifts will receive a $5/hour incentive when a department has above 3% overtime for all paid hours for 2 consecutive pay periods. Nurses with 0.6 FTE and above are eligible for this premium. The incentive periods are from January 1 – April 30 and July 1 – August 31 of each year.

The bargaining team believes that it is step in the right direction but won’t solve every staffing problem. Creating an incentive for picking up shifts during the worst months for staffing and during peak vacation months, is a good start.

Ratification Bonus

The bargaining team fought to the very end for full retro pay. When it became apparent that the employer would not move on retro pay, the team fought to close the gap between retro pay and the bonus, resulting in a 2-tiered bonus. This brings nurses at the high end of the wage scale closer to retro pay. The final agreement is:

Steps 1-15: $1,100

Steps 16-30: $1,300

Walters

Upon ratification of the contract, “The Medical Center will not require nurses hired into the Walters OR before January 1, 2015 to cross-train into the Main OR for procedures not regularly performed at the Walters OR.”

Your bargaining team strongly believes that this tentative agreement represents the best possible outcome from these negotiations. Therefore, this contract is recommended by your bargaining team: Dian Davis, Janet Stewart, Rachael De Souza, Linda Burbank, Sally Budack, Tiffany Repar, Melissa Garcia, Katie Miller, Francine Gumina, Melissa Balla

The VOTE to ratify this contract will occur on June 13 from 6-9 a.m., 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., 2 – 5 p.m. and 5:30-8:30 p.m. in Lagerquist C.

You must be a WSNA Member in good standing to vote on the contract. YOU ARE WSNA!!

Hanna Welander, WSNA Nurse Representative, at 206-575-7979, ext. 3035 or hwelander@wsna.org.