Allesondra Machorro, BSN, RN, CCRN
Nurse Representative
Fall Update
Posted Oct 9, 2025
In this edition of “News You Can Use” you’ll find the following information
- Short notice pay contract concern
- Mandatory low census concern
- Hospital Staffing Committee Updates
- Union 101 Class (free tamales!)
- Schedule grievance
- WSNA Nurse Rep Change
Short Notice Pay
We have heard that nurses have been told that their manager requires all overtime including short notice pay, to be pre-approved. Our union wants you to know this is FALSE. In Article 4.18 our contract states the following
“Section 4.18. Work on Day Off. Non-exempt employees who are called in for work on their scheduled day off shall be guaranteed a minimum of four (4) hours pay. If they are called in with two (2) or more hours’ notice they shall receive straight time (1 X) pay. If they are called in with fewer than two (2) hours’ notice they shall be paid at the rate of time-and-a-half (1.5 X) their base rate of pay for the hours worked.”
Our contract does not require any pre-approval for this pay- don’t fall for this messaging.
Mandatory Low Census- Article 9.1
Our contract under 9.1 states the following language- “Low census shall be rotated on a fair and equitable basis. The rotation shall be housewide, and new employees shall be placed at the top of the rotation list.”
It also defines mandatory low census as “Mandatory low census (MLC): Low census which is identified by management as mandatory and is assigned by a representative from St. Luke’s.”
This means that if any representative of St. Luke’s calls you to give low census YOU need to state I do not want a low census unless it’s mandatory. Please make it very clear that you are not volunteering and that it needs to be mandatory. Recently, one of our nurses was inappropriately given a mandatory low census despite having one the week before. Management initially told her she needed to use PTO to cover that mistake and after contacting WSNA, we were able to resolve that without the nurse losing PTO.
Staffing Committee Report
Our staffing committee continues to meet monthly and address staffing complaints submitted by nursing staff. We currently have 1-2 openings for nursing staff to join our committee. If you’re interested in, contact your current committee members or WSNA Nurse Representative. Our current members are
- Chelsea Shanda
- Tanya Bunker
- Macy DuCouer
We currently have 2 complaints filed with the Department of Health regarding intimidation of our members and their compliance policy. Their current compliance policy only requires them to check their compliance with the staffing plans every 12 hours as opposed to the full shift.
Union 101 Class with Free Tamales!
Join us on Friday October 24 from 11 am-1 pm for a free education class and free lunch! Have you ever wondered who our union is? What does it mean to be a union nurse? What rights and benefits do we actually have? Drop into our LL3 class or join online and find out! RSVP here so that we have a headcount for food or if you’ll be joining virtually.
Schedule Changes
Our union recently filed a grievance about the schedule changes to float pool nurses. We met informally with the Employer on October 8. It is our understanding that the Employer believes they can freely rotate nurses schedules to fit their needs so nurses may have a different day off every 6 weeks. They shared that a staffing committee of managers made this decision. We don’t believe that they can do this according to Article 4.4. This article governs ALL nurses work schedules and is very clear that you’re hired into a schedule with days on and days off. Are you concerned about having your schedule change every 6 weeks? Reach out to jsmedley@wsna.org if you are.
WSNA Nurse Rep Change
Starting today, Jaclyn Smedley will be transitioning into representing our St. Luke’s nurses. Jaclyn has been a registered nurse for 22 years, and a WSNA Nurse Rep for almost 16 of those years. She comes with broad union experience to include representing the nurses of Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane Regional Health District, PeaceHealth Southwest to name few. Jaclyn has represented nurses for matters of negotiations, grievances, organizing and other internal issues that involve mandatory subjects of bargaining. Should you have an issue you would like to address, please send an email to jsmedley@wsna.org.
It has been a pleasure representing St. Luke’s nurses and growing our union over the last 3 years. I will be supporting other local bargaining units in our area but will assist Jaclyn as needed with any ongoing issues. Best wishes!
WSNA staff contact