Bargaining update - Joint Session #5 – A Disappointing Day of Economic Divide

We met with Management on Thursday, May 15 for our 5^th joint session with UWMC Montlake and Northwest. We will meet again on Thursday May 22. Continuing our economic discussion with management from Monday the UW Northwest team shared their first economic proposal, with a few differences from Montlake’s proposal on Monday, see details below. We heard Managements response to our economic proposal, and it’s out of touch with the reality of living in Seattle, and the current state of UW’s financials.

ICYMI: Some highlights from our financial analysis presentation to management: 

• Operating revenue increased by 35% from fiscal year 2021 to 2024.
• The government cuts that could impact other areas of the University should not have a large direct impact on UWMC.
• UW Medical Center RNs are 7% behind their Seattle-area peers and will be even further behind when Swedish and Seattle Children’s finalized CBAs in 2025.
• UWMC’s raises in 2023 worked to recruit and retain the highest quality nurses, and they helped put the hospitals in a financially and operationally sustainable position.
• UW Medicine CEO Timothy Dellit: More patients = more revenue. (May 9, 2025, Town Hall).

Management’s opening economic proposal is a dissatisfying 3% over two years. 

• They offered a 2% raise in year one and a 1% raise in year two.

UWMC Northwest

WSNA proposed:

• 3% market adjustment effective July 1, 2025 to RN2 scale
• 6% wage increase effective July 1, 2025
• 4% wage increase effective July 1, 2026
• An elimination of all ‘Ghost Steps” (those with no annual increase that begin around step 18 and backfills those steps with 1% increase
• Night shift premium increase from current $4.50/hr to 18% over RN regular rate of pay
• Standby Premium from current $4.00/hr to 25% over the RN regular rate of pay
• On call premium from $7/hr to 25% of RN straight time hourly rate.  When working into an On Call shift from a regularly scheduled shift (either before or after), RN will receive a 3-hour minimum
• Standby premium when placed on standby whether as part of a regularly scheduled shift or in addition to their FTE to be paid On-Call premium for all hours on standby
• Preceptor Premium from $1.50/hr to 5% for all hours acting as a preceptor.
• New* STAT RN premium to 15% over the contractual hourly RN rate for all hours worked as a STAT RN.  RN3s would receive 7% premium for all hours worked in the Stat role.
• Weekend Premium from current $4/hr to 12% over current RN regular rate of pay
• New* RVAT premium of 15% over current RN rate of pay
• Weekend Premium from current $4.00/hr to 12% over RN regular rate of pay
• Float Premium from current $5.00/hr to 15% over the RN regular rate of pay
• Temporary Float premium from current $1.50/hr to $5.00/hr
• Intermittent RNs would be eligible for charge and preceptor premium
• Cath Lab MOU which would give those nurses regular rate of pay for call shifts
• Change to the RBS language; nurses would now receive the premium for the entirety of their next shift and not just the first 8 hours.
• Shift rotation in 3-month blocks with a limit to the number of times you can be rotated during that period.
• Proposed a change to the tuition reimbursement language that would include eligible on-line programs.
• A new "Donning and Doffing” article. Ensuring nurses are consistently paid for the time spent changing into and out of required scrub uniform across both campuses.
• Clarifying the Just Cause provision of Article 30 for Intermittent RNs so when a Classified RN transfers into an Intermittent role/schedule, all hours worked in the classified position should count towards the 1872-hour threshold.

Your WSNA NW Bargaining Team:

Elizabeth Gebretsadik - LU Chair – Float
Kaitlyn Fochs - LU Vice Chair – CBC
Mary Stupek - Grievance Officer – Float
Alec Willis - Grievance Officer – Float
Trish Bouzek - Grievance Officer – SPU
Celis Serrano – LTCC
Anthony Snyder – Cath Lab

UWMC Montlake

WSNA Proposed:

• A new "Donning and Doffing” article. Ensuring nurses are consistently paid for the time spent changing into and out of required scrub uniform across both campuses.
• Clarifying the Just Cause provision of Article 30 for Intermittent RNs so when a Classified RN transfers into an Intermittent role/schedule, all hours worked in the classified position should count towards the 1872-hour threshold.

Your WSNA Montlake Bargaining Team:

Chris Jakubowski - LU Chair - Cath Lab
Doug Harper - Secretary/Treasurer- 4SA NICU
Jan Bower - Grievance Officer – OR
Erika Speckhardt - Unit Rep - 5SA CTICU
Melissa Sanchez - Unit Rep - 6S L&D
Lizzy Ryden - Unit Rep – ED
Melissa Humphrey - Unit Rep - Digestive Health
Amber Callison - 7SA
Sorrel Orr - Unit Rep - 7SE
Mark Beaumont - 5SA CTICU

You can help snap management back to reality by doing two things right now! 

1. Sign the Petition

Ask any bargaining team member for a petition or print a copy here! You can send petition signatures to wsna.uwmontlake@gmail.com or wsna.uwnorthwest@gmail.com or text them to WSNA Organizer Zach at 206-406-7203.

1. Share the Bargaining Updates

We have three joint sessions scheduled until your contract expires. It is crucial to read the email updates and share them on your unit with your co-workers. You can find our socials here. Don’t get WSNA emails updates? Follow this guide to whitelist newsletter@wsna.org.

Negotiation Dates:

April 8**
April 14 NW Team
April 17 NW Team
April 23** at UW Gateway Building
April 25** Virtual at NW Campus
May 8 Montlake Team
May 12**
May 15**
May 22**
May 27 Montlake Team
June 3**
June 17**

**Planned Joint Session

You can contact WSNA Northwest Nurse Representative Stephenie Troftgruben at stroftgruben@wsna.org  or WSNA Montlake Nurse Representative Ed Zercher at ezercher@wsna.org.