We Came Ready — Management Came Empty-Handed

After three full days at the bargaining table this week, your WSNA bargaining team pushed hard for the priorities nurses have made crystal clear: safe staffing, fair wages, and respect for the work we do every single day.

Here’s what happened:

• No economic counterproposal. Management has still not responded to our wage proposal.
• No tentative agreements. Despite hours of discussion, we left without meaningful movement on the issues that matter most to nurses and patients.

Today’s lowlights from management:

• Anti-union positioning. Management is trying to limit which nurses are recognized under our union contract (Article 1) and end dues collection — something they’ve done for over 40 years — in a clear attempt to weaken our collective strength.
• Access restrictions. They continue to insist that union bulletin boards don’t need to be in all break rooms and want stricter access rules for union representatives than for members of the public.
• Technology protections. While we moved closer on some tech language, they still refuse to guarantee support for nurses facing civil suits related to technology use, or to protect against replacing nurses with “virtual nursing” substitutes.
• Legal recourse under attack. They resubmitted an offensive proposal we had already rejected that would take away nurses’ rights to go to court when the hospital violates their legal rights and would bar them (in most cases) from joining together collectively to right those wrongs.
• Small progress. We were able to reach common ground in a few minor areas, but management continues to reject critical protections for nurses we have proposed.

We came prepared with solutions. They came without answers.

During bargaining, we shared personal stories from ourselves and our coworkers about the real impact of workplace violence, underscoring why strong protections are urgent and imperative.

What’s Next

• We continue to wait for an economic counterproposal from the hospital — and hope they come back with something meaningful and significant we can work with.
• Our next bargaining sessions are August 28 and 29. With many articles now back in our hands, we will keep bargaining in good faith and working toward consensus — but we need management to start showing the same commitment.

Picket Pledge: It’s Time to Turn Up the Pressure

If management won’t listen at the table, we’ll make sure they hear us outside of it. We’re launching our Picket Pledge today — sign on to show you’re ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your coworkers and send a clear message: We will not settle for less.

📅 Stay tuned for the picket date and details.
✍️ Sign the pledge now — because when we stand together, we win together. https://tinyurl.com/schpicketpledge

Picket FAQ

Your bargaining team is united, strong, and not backing down. Let’s show management that the power of the nurses at Seattle Children’s is unstoppable.

Do not hesitate to contact any of our officers if you have questions. All of our contacts are on our WSNA website. https://www.wsna.org/union/seattle-childrens-hospital. Also, utilizing our Instagram @sch_wsna offers quick updates and opportunities for DMs.

In solidarity,

Your Bargaining Team
Annika Hoogestraat, Kara Yates, Lindsey Kirsch, Sam Forte, Katie Podobnik, Therese Hill, Kelsey Gellner, AJ Nagal, Emma Gordon, Sarah Munro, Cody Ian, Lauren Lustyk, Regan Halom, Jon McAferty, Anna Marie Fountain and Bree Casas

Feel free to reach out to your WSNA Nurse Rep Linda Burbank at lburbank@wsna.org if needed.