On the twenty-second day until contract expiration your bargaining team delivered management an early Christmas present. More than 450 signed cards from WSNA nurses at Tacoma General calling for the charge nurse role to return to where it belongs, with a Union Nurse. That is roughly half of all TG nurses, collected in only four days and over one weekend. Nearly every RN who worked the weekend signed a card. This turnout is extraordinary and it sends a message that cannot be wrapped, bowed, or ignored. We are united in our demand, and we will carry that unity into every bargaining session.

As we move through the days before Christmas, we are reminded that the season is about generosity, commitment, and standing together. While management continues to treat CANMs in the charge role as a no big deal stocking stuffer, nurses are making it clear that we see the bigger picture. Safe staffing, stable leadership, and the future of our profession are on the line. Our cards were not a gift. They were a warning that we are done compromising on the quality of care and the respect nurses deserve.

Below is what happened on day five of bargaining, what is coming next, and how you can help us secure the fair contract every TG nurse has earned.

Non Economics

We reached several non economic tentative agreements including:

• Expanded bereavement leave that includes miscarriage and stillbirth
• A minimum of two hours of pay for required in person meetings when no alternative exists
• Certainty that a PG1 does not block transfers, access to programs like GROW, or serve as grounds for discipline after one year
• Extending physical postings of open positions in break rooms from seven to ten days
• Allowing the Ad Hoc Holiday Committee to review holiday scheduling every even numbered year and give nurses the ability to vote on any proposed changes

These wins matter, but many key issues remain unresolved. We are not backing down from any of them. We will not accept the loss of contractual ratios. We will not accept staffing language that weakens our protections in the Hospital Staffing Committee. We continue to fight for:

• Adequate spaces for lactating mothers
• Fair low census language that does not leave nurses waiting all day to find out if they are needed
• Charge nurses being Union Nurses every shift every time
• A Racial Justice Committee that supports our nurses and our community in a way that Belonging has failed to do for two contracts

We did see movement on an equity review for nurses with international or LPN experience and we hope to have positive news soon.

Economics

Both sides passed multiple wage proposals yesterday. Management continues to come in below St. Joseph’s Tacoma which is the only real comparator for our market. Our proposal would place TG nurses about one dollar fifty above St. Joe’s while maintaining a fair step structure.

Management proposed:

• Six percent in year one
• Three percent in year two
• Two point seven five percent in year three
• A twenty five cent increase to charge pay

WSNA proposed:

• Six percent and $2.25 for every step
• Five percent in year two
• Four percent in year three
• Night shift pay of six dollars per hour plus two dollars more for nurses with five or more years of experience
• Increased preceptor and charge premiums
• Increased Stat and Resource RN premiums to ten dollars which still trails Good Sam
• Creation of a trauma RN premium at the charge rate

Our proposal recruits and retains. So does theirs but only for St. Joe’s. The difference could not be clearer.

Where Do We Go From Here

You delivered incredible turnout for the food drive and overwhelming support for the CANM cards. That pressure is working. Management has moved and they will continue to move if we keep showing them our strength.

Our next step is to begin circulating informational picket pledges. Bargaining team members and volunteer nurses will visit units to talk about what an informational picket is, what the requirements are, and what participation looks like. An informational picket is not a strike. It is a public demonstration of unity and a powerful tool to show MultiCare that nurses at Tacoma General are done settling for less.

If you want to help gather signatures or learn more, contact Jared at JRichardson@WSNA.org.

This season is about standing together. Nurses at Tacoma General have already shown what we can do in four days. Imagine what we can do in the coming weeks when we act with one voice. Management asked for a quiet winter. We are giving them a chorus instead.

In Solidarity,
Therese Juntunen, NTICU
Michelle Stevenson, 5/6 MSICU/PCU
Sarah Huber, Emergency Department
Christina Nicholson, Resource RN
George Murray, NTICU
Marc Jebousek, Emergency Department
Anna Vermaire, Pulse Cardiac Short Stay
Anna Glorioso-Kaufmann, Operating Room
Jaime Cary, Labor and Delivery
Rachel Ballou-Church, Medical Oncology

Questions? Contact one of your officers, one of your bargaining team members, or Nurse Rep Jared Richardson (jrichardson@wsna.org).