We met with management Oct. 29. We had good dialogue and exchanged more counters on both sides. We have reached some tentative agreements.

One of the sticking points we are having is that management wants to change the Low Census order. They want to put “non-guaranteed travelers” first. There is no such thing as a non-guaranteed traveler. They all come with contracts that guarantee them 48 hours a week for the life of their contract. We believe volunteers should be first, and that all travelers should be in the rotation with the core nursing staff.

Another sticking point is management’s proposal to change the Work on Day Off part of the contract so that mandatory education sessions scheduled in advance would only be paid as straight time, even if they are scheduled on your day off. We have told management several times that this change would be unfair to nurses. You should not be required to come in on your day off for mandatory education without being paid time and a half.

The other sticking point is management’s wage proposal, which is better for the first (lowest) half of the pay scale but includes only very small increases at the top (most senior) part of the scale. Their proposal also includes different increases at every step. Management has not explained how it came up with these numbers or why. Our counter was for an across-the-board increase that would treat everyone fairly.

We are scheduled for another session on Nov. 12 and will send out an update as soon as possible following that day of negotiations.

Stay tuned for our sticker up campaign.

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Carmen Garrison, BSN, RN, at cgarrison@wsna.org.