Yep, another one. We promise this one is important too.

Recently, your elected officer group drafted a new set of Local Unit Rules for the Mary Bridge NICU bargaining unit. Those rules have now been reviewed and approved by the WSNA Labor Executive Council (LEC), and the final step is approval by the bargaining unit through a vote.

What Are Local Unit Rules?

Every WSNA bargaining unit has Local Unit Rules that outline how the local unit operates. These rules cover things like:

• How officer elections are conducted
• Who is eligible to run for office
• Officer titles and responsibilities
• Terms of office
• How vacancies are filled
• Other day-to-day governance procedures

When the NICU transitioned from Tacoma General to Mary Bridge, we no longer fell under the Tacoma General Local Unit Rules, which meant we needed to formally establish a new set specific to the Mary Bridge NICU.

The proposed rules are largely the same as the rules we operated under previously at Tacoma General. You can review the redlined version of the proposed rules here.

Why This Matters

If the Local Unit Rules are approved, we can officially move forward with nominations and elections for local unit leadership positions for this contract cycle, including:

• Co-Chair (2 positions)
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Grievance Officer
• Membership Officer

Once nominations close, we will move into officer elections so that the bargaining unit can elect its leadership team.

And there is some good news. The WSNA Labor Executive Council recently approved electronic voting for officer elections, meaning no more snail mail ballots. We are hopeful this will make participation easier and increase turnout.

When Is the Vote?

The electronic vote on the proposed Local Unit Rules will take place on:

May 14, 2026
0600 – 1600

Ballots will be sent to your personal email address, just like the recent contract ratification and Case Manager votes.

What Else Is Going On?

Your elected officers and Nurse Representatives continue to push aggressively on the staffing crisis through Conference Committee meetings, Staffing Committee work, and ongoing grievances.

We are already seeing movement in the Hospital Staffing Committee process. Management is no longer being allowed to simply mark ADOs as “resolved” or “in progress” without accountability. Several ADOs remain formally unresolved and will now be escalated to the Washington State Department of Health for investigation.

This is exactly why continued documentation and filing ADOs matter. Pressure works when we work together.

On a lighter note, we have had an absolute blast handing out Nurses Week gift cards every day this week. We cannot wait to see pictures from the Rage Room grand prize winners.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or want to get more involved, please reach out to one of your elected officers or Nurse Representative Jared.

You can reach Jared at JRichardson@WSNA.org.