The bargaining team will meet with management next week on Wednesday, 8/12, for our fifth negotiation session. Read on for more info on proposals where we need your input, updates on high priority grievances from across our bargaining unit, and all the fireworks that started at our recent staffing grievance meeting with management.

Per Diem Nurses: We Need Your Input 

Next week, we plan to respond to a proposal management made that would pass the buck to per diem nurses by dramatically increasing their availability and minimum hours requirements. Per diems: your bargaining team needs your input as we draft that proposal! Click the mini-survey link below to weigh in on what’s most important to you about your role and your preferences for per diem scheduling, work requirements, and job protections in the future. Please submit your responses by noon on Tuesday, 8/11, so we can review them before we head to the table the next morning!

Mini Survey 2: Per Diem Requirements – Fill out form

Your ADOs and Staffing Reports Matter!

Every day, nurses file ADOs reporting many different deficiencies in staffing. Keep those coming!! Your reports helped show DOH that during the months of April - June, the hospital did not meet the required 80% compliance with the staffing law. WSNA believes it is actually far worse than that – DOH also requires that a hospital measure staffing compliance throughout a shift, but the hospital is only measuring staffing at the start of a shift, and only your ADOs can fill in that gap. We know that census often changes, mid-shift nurses go home, break buddies are utilized, etc. which all result in non-compliance with the staffing plan – when this happens on your unit, file an ADO so we can hold management accountable.  (We know they’re noticing – read on for details on their reaction to a recent staffing grievance.)

Staffing Grievance Update 

WSNA filed a staffing grievance in June over the hospital’s failure to fill open positions and staff according to the approved staffing plan on file with the DOH. Nurses have reported this problem in units across the hospital; for instance: 

• Nurses have reported that at least one manager has unilaterally stopped staffing the required unit resource nurse, despite a staffing plan that requires one. 
• In the ED, the hospital is not scheduling nurses in accordance with the staffing plan due to lack of staff and is not even offering the holes as open shifts for nurses to pick up. 
• Many nurses have been advised by their managers that the hospital isn't filling many positions in order to meet targeted productivity numbers rather than using the approved staffing plan to measure the required number of FTE for each unit and shift. Put differently: they’re prioritizing profits and productivity over people. 
• Nurses have reported that, in some cases, it isn't even mathematically possible to staff certain shifts and positions because there are not enough nursing personnel, yet open positions are not posted.  

This list covers just a handful of the staffing plan violations covered by the staffing grievance. Read on to see how management responded to being held accountable for these issues. 

Management’s Response to Your Staffing Grievance is Unacceptable! 

We know management reacts strongly when nurses take action to hold them accountable, and their response to this grievance was no exception. 

After WSNA filed a grievance over the long list of staffing plan violations, the hospital scheduled a step 2 meeting. The very next day, the hospital unilaterally cancelled the meeting and refused to meet at that step.  WSNA advanced the grievance to step 3 and held met on July 13 with the CNO and HR.  A number of nurses from your staffing committee and WSNA officers attended to participate in the discussion and provide details about the specific staffing plan violations they’d observed. Almost immediately, management began interrupting – at times even yelling in an angry tone – and did not allow WSNA to present the grievance or give nurses any opportunity to speak before the CNO abruptly stated she had to leave and that the meeting was over. 

One nurse who was present reported: 

I attended the grievance meeting today, and what I witnessed was disappointing. I had the expectation that hospital and regional leadership would be expected to maintain the same level of professionalism and integrity as their subordinates. The unprofessional and disrespectful behavior displayed by [management’s representative] on today's call robbed me of the opportunity to speak about the staffing concerns I have on my unit and leaves me with the impression that my feedback is not welcome, as well as disrespecting the time I took on my day off to participate in the grievance process we agreed to with our leadership team.  Nurses at Virginia Mason Medical Center should be able to expect that concerns raised about safety and staffing can be addressed in a professional environment without fear of intimidation or retaliation.

Another nurse stated, that management:,

"....repeatedly yelled 'Oh? Oh?' It was disturbing to see our leaders acting so disrespectful not only to [our Nurse Representative], but to the staffing committee observers as well.”

And finally: 

“The meeting tried to continue, but with the repeated loud, yelling, rude and abrupt interruptions  anytime [our Nurse Representative] began to speak, this was impossible.” 

After refusing to discuss any of the specific staffing violations covered by this grievance, the hospital has now denied any contract violation, and this grievance has moved on to the arbitration stage.  

Don’t be fooled: management’s strong reaction shows your reports are working. The details nurses included in their ADOs will be invaluable evidence at the arbitration hearing for this grievance, so thank you to everyone who reported understaffing in their units! And if your unit is understaffed at any point in your shift, keep holding them accountable: don’t forget to file your own ADO here.

Donning and Doffing Scrubs

Yes - we have to talk about this again.  Last week, the hospital changed its long-standing practice of having nurses don and doff scrubs before and after their shift.  WSNA is aware that management has now put out a message stating WSNA caused "confusion" inferring WSNA directed nurses when they needed to change in and out of scrubs.  WSNA guidance was related to the MOU contents and what the hospital required at the time. Management stated in the message that nurses "MUST" per the MOU, "change into and out of scrubs during their shift" and this "must occur during the shift, not outside of it."  This is not an accurate statement regarding what is contained within the MOU. The MOU states in part:

Employees should clock in before donning and clock out after doffing. Employees who work overtime because they are not granted appropriate time for donning and doffing are entitled to overtime compensation for that time. 

The hospital can make the change to asking nurses to don and doff clothing during their scheduled shift time; however, if you are not able to do that for any reason (such as not being released in time to change out of your scrubs before your scheduled shift ended), you should still be paid at the appropriate OT rate. Remember: you get 8 minutes to don and 8 minutes to doff your scrubs. There should be no retaliation, intimidation or discipline for nurses who are not able to complete this during their scheduled shift due to their work duties. If you experience any of this, please contact WSNA ASAP.  

We have also heard that this change has resulted in backups at the timeclock. If you are not able to clock in at the appropriate time because of a line, the clock freezing, etc., be sure to email your manager so they can correct the time, even if it is as little as one minute. This is important for several reasons: (1) Management needs to know if there are not sufficient time clocks; (2) You don't want a tardy on your record; and, finally, (3) You should not work for free, even if it is just one minute. If you experience any difficulties, please contact WSNA. 

You can and should read the full timekeeping MOU here: https://cdn.wsna.org/assets/local-unit-assets/virginia-mason-medical-center/VMMC-MOU-Actual_Timekeeping-9-20-2024.pdf

Updates on Other Important Grievances 

OIC

There is an ongoing grievance related to the changes experienced by the OIC nurses when the hospital transferred the their unit from the VMMC license to St. Anne’s license. This created a number of serious safety issues, staffing issues and other problems for nurses and patients. WSNA members and representatives have urged management to address those issues immediately and to include nurses in the planning conversations for changes like this so we can ensure everyone stays safe. We are still waiting on their formal grievance response, but management has already tipped their hand about their position that this "isn't a grievance." We are disappointed that, instead of engaging with its own expert employees and their union representatives to resolve the serious problems that followed this licensing change, management seems more interested in picking a procedural fight. 

Low Census and Call 

Per your WSNA contract, nurses who are on low census shall not be required to be on-call for that low census shift. The hospital must also follow the low census order in our contract.  The second group in the order is volunteers.  The hospital CANNOT put out a message seeking volunteers but only limit the offer to nurses who will agree to call. You can always choose to be on-call (which would qualify you for on-call pay and potentially callback pay), but you cannot be required to be on-call when you volunteer for low census. If you did agree to be on-call and were not paid call pay, please contact WSNA ASAP. Nurses have also reported that management may be calling on-call time "standby" in an apparent effort to avoid paying on-call pay, and that some managers have bad-mouthed WNSA for enforcing this part of the contract.  Don't be fooled! 

Beyond adhering to the contract, WSNA believes the hospital needs to be thoughtful about how it handles low census so that units do not end up short-staffed for the day, which would also violate the contract and the staffing law. We are aware that this has been occurring a lot and should not happen.  Please fill out ADOs when your unit is not properly staffed. 

Cancelled/Low Censused Incentive Shifts

Many have asked what is going on with the grievance related to the hospital’s blanket directive to cancel and low census all overtime and incentive shifts a few months ago. This grievance is now pending arbitration.  It is worth noting that, in contract negotiations, the hospital has also proposed language that would give them the right to do exactly what gave rise to this grievance in the first place; somehow, the hospital still claims it believed it could cancel overtime and incentive shifts unilaterally under the current contract language back in April.   Nurses know better, which is why WSNA is seeking pay for all nurses whose incentive and overtime shifts were cancelled in violation of the contract. 

EPIC SUPERUSERS 

There is also a grievance pending on behalf of EPIC superusers who were paid using "professional meeting time"  pay code, which does not include nurses’ shift diff, certification pay, preceptor and charge premiums, and other premium rates. When paid under this pay code, nurses may not get their shift diff, cert pay, preceptor pay, charge nurse or other premiums.  We are aware this has now extended beyond just the EPIC group.  Be sure you are carefully checking every, single paycheck for accuracy.  We are waiting on a response to WSNA’s step 3 filing and information request. So far, the hospital has failed to even identify all the Superusers so the union can confirm who was impacted.  We have also asked that KRONOS be changed so nurses are not shorted pay when their hours are coded this way.  

Need representation or have contract questions?
Contact Nurse Representative, Sara Frey at SFrey@wsna.org.

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