The Contract Expires (and Our Patience Is Close Behind…

On August 31, we met for the 10th time with management. Management made it crystal clear that they don’t intend to make any improvements to staffing in the Contract. Last week, Management’s response to our proposal regarding Workplace Violence was to establish yet another committee and to refuse to commit to any steps that have been proven to curtail incidents of violence against nurses. We have *urged* them to take our proposal serious and not wait for a tragedy to occur and respond after the damage is done. So far, outside of raising nurses’ wages to market rates comparable to other local hospitals (a proposal we consider grossly inadequate, by the way), we haven’t seen anything from management that indicates that they’re truly serious about recruiting and retaining nurses. CommonSpirit fiddles while Virginia Mason burns.

It’s time for CommonSpirit to feel the heat.

These Clogs Were Made for Walking

We announced last night on the Sip & Chat that it’s time to sign Picket Pledges. 

All VM nurses should sign a picket pledge to indicate that they are willing to picket to show VM/CommonSpirit management that a little money isn’t enough. *While no date has been set* sign to show that you will commit to come if it’s your day off and that you’ll come before or after work or on your break if you’re working that day (and if you can’t get a break that day, fill out an ADO!). And then proudly wear your “Ready to Walk!” sticker to show your coworkers, your patients, and management that we are serious. We need as many nurses signing the pledge as soon as possible so that the Bargaining Team has a strong understanding of how powerful our picket will be.

Contact any Bargaining Team member or WSNA Organizer Crystal Doll at 206/334.8388 or cdoll@wsna.org if you need to sign or want petitions to get your coworkers to sign.

Keep Sounding the Alarm for Safety

The pictures with the “Sounding the Alarm” posters have been pouring in to the @vmfhbargaining_unit Instagram account! Keep taking those pictures and posting your signs. Check out on our Facebook page, WSNA-Virginia Mason RNs, how our ED nurses responded when management removed their Safety Posters from their break room (spoiler: management may not have thought that through all the way…).

Make Sure You’ve Signed The Petition!

There’s still time to sign the petition! Stay tuned for information regarding what will happen to those petitions. Let a bargaining team member or WSNA Organizer Crystal Doll at 206/334.8388 or cdoll@wsna.org know if you’re interested in making sure the petition gets into the right recipient’s hands…

We have two more blocks of bargaining dates scheduled - September 13-14, 2023, and September 26-27. Come observe and see what the bargaining team is up against and make sure that Virginia Mason management sees how many nurses are watching, waiting, and making decisions.

In solidarity,

The Bargaining Team
Kim Adekoya, ER; Sam Asencio, WSNA Treasurer and OR; Martha Bermeo, C8; Hannah Collins-Lewis, C9; Jane Hill Littlejohn, WSNA Chair and Resource Nurse; Art Laycock, IV; Kaylyn Lesser, ER Aaron Persinger, C17; Michael Salters, CCU; Kim Travis-Carter, ED; Donna Watts, Birth Center; Allison Wortman, J5 Recovery

Questions or comments, please contact your Nurse Representative, Barbara Friesen bfriesen@wsna.org or Organizer Crystal Doll at  cdoll@wsna.org.