Happy New Year to each of you, your family, and friends. The recent severe rains and flooding affected so many of our members across the state, with Whatcom and Skagit counties being significantly affected. We hope you are safe and well!

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for the term of January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2028, is now posted on your local unit webpage. Use this link to go directly to the contract. It is a word searchable PDF for smoother navigation! Control F can be very helpful with contracts, especially when terms and provisions may be cited in more than one place.

Gaining this successor contract is not the end, but the beginning of new provisions to enforce. When in doubt, check it out! Contact a local unit officer or Nurse Representative with contract questions. If you are not already familiar with your contract, we invite you to begin using it as a resource. We can help with interpretation from legal lingo to plain English 😊. The transition to the Washington Teamsters Welfare Trust (aka Teamsters Health plan) is a high value to so many nurses. See article 23 and the letter of understanding (LOU) memorializing the legacy agreement for former job share nurses on pg. 35 of the CBA. We’d love to hear how open enrollment went and stay attuned to what your experiences are as you begin to access your benefits. Please note, Heidi Christie is still the health benefits liaison for you at the County.

The new wage rates can be found in addendum A.

Resuming local unit meetings in 2026

We will resume our monthly local unit meetings on January 22. We will meet in-person at the Girard building 11 am to noon with a hybrid option, as well. A calendar invite will be sent the week prior.

Until then, you may be wondering what the voluntary on-call premium includes in required duties if a nurse chooses to participate. Maybe you have already signed up! While there has been some form of a quick reference to assist non-nurse managers and health officers field after hours calls, we support the nurses’ desire to make a job aid that suits their needs. Here is the LOU on pg. 36:

On-Call Premium Rotation – Pilot Program

This Letter of Understanding is by and between Whatcom County hereafter called “the County” and Washington State Nurses Association, hereafter called “the Union” regarding the Washington State Nurses Association Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) covering the period of January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2028. The purpose of this Letter of Understanding is to record the agreement for the handling of a new voluntary on-call premium rotation.

The parties mutually agree as follows:

1. Employees may volunteer for the weekly on-call rotation to cover the 24/7 phone line.
2. Management will maintain a volunteer sign-up list and employees will express interest through use of the sign-up list.
3. Employees assigned to the on-call rotation shall receive twenty dollars ($20) per day while on-call. On-call assignments shall be at the County’s discretion and distributed as equitably as possible among all qualified volunteered employees.
4. The County reserves the right to make adjustments as necessary to the on-call rotation assignments to meet operational needs.
5. The on-call rotation is not eligible for any other premium payments provided for in the CBA.

Duration and Review The parties will initially review this pilot program in October 2026, to determine if there are any unintended consequences and to evaluate the success of a volunteer program. The parties may mutually agree to extend the trial period, implement all or part of the language modified, or bargain the terms of a new agreement. In December 2026, either party may inform the other it no longer wishes to follow the terms of this LOU, and it shall cease effective December 31, 2026.

Questions about this communication? Contact a local unit officer or Nurse Rep Tara Barnes tbarnes@wsna.org