The negotiation team has had multiple sessions bargaining with management, the most recent session on June 5 was our 7^th day of bargaining. We have spent a large amount of time counter proposing wage offers that we do not feel are adequate given the eastern Washington market and Toppenish’s need to recruit and retain. The team has also spent a great deal of time discussing adequate break coverage.

Here is where we are on some of the bigger issues:

Wages

• While we have made some progress with respect to wages, Management is still insisting on wage increases that we believe will not adequately address the high turnover rate and the recruitment and retention problem at Toppenish.  Management has mentioned Prosser Memorial Hospital as a competitor for nurses but is proposing wages for 2025 that, on average, lag behind those at Prosser and will fall further behind in 2026.  We have proposed competitive wages for all years of the contract that will help recruit new staff to a rural area, and that will keep experienced staff for long-term employment.  We have also proposed increases to differentials and premiums that reflect the skill, time, commitment and expertise of the nursing staff.

There is more work to be done.

Workplace Violence and Safety

• We have proposed a Safety and Workplace Violence Committee to ensure that issues that relate to safety and workplace violence are monitored, assessed and addressed. We also have proposed that nurses be able to raise concerns regarding workplace violence and potential unsafe situations directly with the Safety and Workplace Violence Committee.

Break Relief 

We have had heated discussions regarding how nurses are receiving breaks at Toppenish and what resources are available to them so that nurses can be fully relieved for meal and rest breaks without overburdening other nurses and compromising patient care.   We have proposed staffing ratios must be maintained during break coverage.  We understand that nurses are placed in the uncomfortable position of having another nurse take more patients than they should (the “Buddy System”) so that they can have a meal or rest break. Sometimes nurses forgo their break so as not to burden another nurse or compromise patient care. Management insists that there is no break coverage issue and that there is adequate break coverage on all shifts that does not require use of the Buddy System.

For your bargaining team to make progress on this issue, it is imperative that each and every nurse at Toppenish do the following:

• Whenever you are not completely relieved of your work duties during a meal or rest break, enter it as a missed break in Kronos and fill out an ADO with the reason for the missed break.
• If you cover for another nurse’s break and care for more patients that is contemplated under the staffing plan or feel that the added patient care duties are inappropriate, fill out an ADO.
• Complete the meal and rest break survey that is currently live.
  

Upcoming Negotiation Dates

• June 17
• TBD

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Jennifer Jackson at jjackson@wsna.org.