• The contract has been signed and posted on the Evergreen WSNA website and can be found here or by going to the local unit web page.
• Local Unit Meeting TONIGHT at 8 pm (8/1)
• We are currently working on the 2026 staffing plans, and we need your help and support.
• Meal Periods and Rest Breaks
• ADO - Assignment Despite Objection: Why We Need Everyone to Use Them.
• FAQ

Local Unit Meeting

• We will start holding recurring WSNA Local Unit Meetings on the first of every month. Mark your calendar for 8 pm on the first of the month.
• In the meeting, you can interact with officers and Stewards (Unit Reps) to ask questions and pass on concerns.
• At this meeting, we will discuss and answer questions on the topics of this update.

Link to attend:

Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 239 136 941 143
Dial in by phone
+1 206-485-2614,,638382110# United States, Seattle
(888) 313-0615,,638382110# United States (Toll-free)

Hospital Staffing Committee 2026 Staffing Plans

We are currently working with management creating staffing plans for 2026 within the Hospital Staffing Committee. We have fundamental disagreements on how break nurses and support roles should be accounted for in the staffing plan. These roles are critical to the functioning of the unit, and the employer should be held accountable to include them as part of compliance for the staffing plan.

We need you!

Do you know who is working on the staffing plans in your department, or are you part of that process?  If you haven’t and want to be please email Theresa Blazer at TMblazer@gmail.com.

Join us on the Hospital Staffing Committee Meeting that will be held on Wednesday, August 13, from 9 to 11 am. We will be sharing our staffing plan proposals and SBAR sheets covering the changes and rationale. We are asking management to bring their proposals as well on this date so we can then consider everything and work together to generate adequate staffing plans for 2026. Please come and listen in as observers. Following the meeting, we will seek out feedback from the observers about the staffing plans discussed and if they will meet your needs.

Link for the meeting:

Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 280 672 970 852 0
Dial in by phone
+1 323-457-8079,,855014427# United States, Los Angeles
Find a local number
Phone conference ID: 855 014 427#

Know Your Rights: Missed Meal and Rest Breaks 

If your break is missed, interrupted, or not taken on time, you are entitled to additional compensation:

• Meal Breaks: You must be paid for the missed break time, and depending on your shift and circumstances, overtime pay could apply. In addition, there is a 30-minute pay penalty due to you.
• Rest Breaks: These are paid time. If missed or interrupted, you are owed an additional 10 minutes' wages as a penalty for the missed break.

When to fill out an ADO (Assignment Despite Objection)

Here's when to use it:

• You are unable to take your break or meal period due to staffing or patient care demands.
• You are assigned more patients than allowed by the staffing plan to cover another nurse's break.
• For example, if your unit's staffing plan allows for four patients per nurse, and you are assigned five or more—even temporarily—to cover a break, that's staffing out of compliance with the staffing plan. Compliance is required throughout the shift.

Why this matters:

• We fought hard for better break rules, staffing committees, and protections against mandatory overtime. We need to hear from you when the employer is breaking our contract or staffing plans.      Fill out an ADO or email the officers.
• If we don’t complete ADOs, its difficult to hold Evergreen accountable. Evergreen plans to verify compliance only twice every 24 hour period. DOH requires compliance throughout the 24 hour periods. We need to hold them accountable.

You're Protected - You have the right to:

• Take your breaks.
• Accurately record missed or interrupted breaks.
• File a complaint or ADO without fear of retaliation. Retaliation occurs when management takes actions that have a "chilling" effect on you and your coworkers, preventing ADOs from being completed or hindering workers from accurately logging missed meal or rest breaks. We take this seriously. Reach out to your officers or Nurse Representative if you feel this is happening.

For more on ADOs, and to fill one out go here:  https://www.wsna.org/union/ado

Q&A

Q: If I have to carry a phone or pager on my lunch period should I be paid?

A: Yes. If you have to be there and can't leave the floor, or if you have to carry a phone or pager, that should be paid time and not a meal period. Meal Periods are unpaid and not working time.

Q: I've been told by my manager that resource nurses, break nurses, and other floating nurses are not part of the staffing plans because they do not have an assigned staffing assignment.

A: That is incorrect. All nurses required to carry out the duties of patient care on the unit should be included. Not just those with patient assignments.

Q: Break Nurses - what's going on?

A: We have had break nurses in our contract since ratification, and the employer has refused to discuss and bargain the implementation of them. We are exploring options to include complaints with the DOH and PERC. We need break nurses NOW, it's in the contract. We will be adding them to our staffing plans and expect the employer to work in good faith with us to implement them together.

Q: What about Break Buddies and staffing plans?

A: "Break Buddies" have always been unfair to nurses and unsafe for our patients. No patient assignment should go out of ratio to achieve breaks. If they do this is considered non-compliance and is a violation of our contract.

Questions?  Email your local unit officers at localofficers@eh-nurses.com, or better yet come to the Local Unit meeting tonight and join the discussion.

 For more information we have provided some links:

RCW 49.12.480 Meal and Rest Breaks for Health Care Facility Employees

L&I: Health Care Labor Standards

L&I: Meal and Rest Break Protections For Certain Healthcare Workers

L&I: Rest Breaks, Meal Periods & Schedules (Also to file a complaint with L&I)

WSNA News: Member survey finds most are not getting their meal and rest breaks

Cascade PBS Report: Most WA nurses report getting breaks – advocates are skeptical

In Solidarity,

WSNA Evergreen Local Unit Officer Team, 
Theresa Blazer, Chair 
Sandy Gott, Secretary 
Holly Baker, Treasurer 
Alexandra Overa, Grievance Officer 
Carol Flaming, Membership Officer