Our Contract Expires One Week From Tonight

What we proposed, what management rejected, and what it means

Tuesday 9/22 marked our 9th bargaining session with the Hospital. We kicked the morning off by presenting several package proposals addressing high-priority issues, including:

• Stronger charge nurse language that guarantees adequate training and protects charge nurses from having to take on patient care assignments by adding teeth (read: financial penalties payable to nurses) to our existing language. 
• Comprehensive break flex language that guarantees break coverage every day, in every unit, and on every shift by treating all time spent as a "break buddy" as if it's a missed break — and pays nurses accordingly. 
• A permanent end to the "bubble list" backup call system and a replacement plan that protects nurses from excess call time, compensates them for picking up more than their fair share of call, and ensures they know exactly when they're on call (or acting as the backup) each month, with incentive pay attached.

In the afternoon, we added:

• Flexible, sustainable per diem scheduling requirements that make reasonable updates so per diems can effectively fill their unit's staffing gaps in exchange for just cause protections.  
• Language protecting full-time benefit coverage for nurses assigned 0.75 FTE or higher and initiating bargaining if a change to local, state, or federal law ever impacts our insurance coverage. 

Want more details about how management responded and the game plan for the 29th and 30th? Join our weekly bargaining update on Wednesday at 6 PM or 8 PM to hear the latest developments and ask questions — details for joining us are below. (Spoiler alert: we didn't reach any new tentative agreements, and a huge portion of our contract is still on the table as we head into our final two sessions before expiration. We'll share the full story tonight.) 

Yesterday, one exchange made it pretty clear what's actually standing between us and a deal. We made a package proposal to management that would checked nearly a dozen items off our shared to-do list if management was willing to make one zero-cost compromise that would strengthen our bargaining unit moving forward. Rather than working with us to reach a deal, management rejected the package outright. That means your ribbons, t-shirts, and petition signatures are working. Virginia Mason's leaders sees the power we're building across the hospital, and they're desperate to pull the plug. We won't let them. 

There are only two bargaining sessions remaining before our contract expires on September 30.  Let's put the pressure on and remind management that people — both patients and workers — should always come before profit. Please plan on joining us as an observer on 9/29 and/or 9/30 — your presence shows management that we're a united front. RSVP here. [Link: WSNA at Virginia Mason Medical Center: RSVP to Observe Bargaining – Fill out form]

Have you signed the petition yet?

 If not, please connect with one of your bargaining team members and add your name. Every signature helps demonstrate our collective strength and support for a fair contract. (Work remotely, or need help finding a bargaining team member? Email Maia, our organizer, at mhepburn@wsna.org.) 

Stay engaged. Stay informed. Stay united.

Bargaining update information:

Microsoft Teams meeting
Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/255140941463423?p=1IDloVzbvwKzVrrqAr
Meeting ID: 255 140 941 463 423
Passcode: HL6U4ep9
Dial in by phone
+1 206-485-2614,,499696793# United States, Seattle
(888) 313-0615,,499696793# United States (Toll-free)
Phone conference ID: 499 696 793#