Nurses at 3 Seattle hospitals team up for negotiations
Nearly 200 people came together in solidarity to take on the issues facing nurses at UW Medicine Montlake, UW Medicine Northwest, and Seattle Children’s Hospital.
January 15, 2025 • 1 minute, 19 seconds to read
Three WSNA bargaining units came together for the first time Jan. 11 to strengthen their union power with a Negotiations Kickoff at Stoup Brewing on Capitol Hill in Seattle.
Nearly 200 people came together in solidarity to take on the issues facing nurses at UW Medicine Montlake, UW Medicine Northwest, and Seattle Children’s Hospital.
State Rep. Liz Berry (D-Seattle), chair of the Labor & Workplace Standards Committee, spoke passionately about her commitment to workplace violence prevention and HB 1162/SB 5162, supported by WSNA to help protect nurses against workplace violence.
Berry also spoke about her concerns about workplace violence in healthcare during her recent visit to Seattle Children's Hospital to advocate for safety.
Nurse leaders shared their personal experiences of how they became involved with WSNA and what that has meant for them. Speakers included Annika Hoogestraat, local unit chair at Seattle Children’s, Kelsey Gellner, local unit social media officer at Seattle Children’s, Chris Jakubowski, local unit chair at UW Montlake, and Alec Willis, local unit member at UW Northwest. Gellner is also on the WSNA Board of Directors and Hoogestraat, the MC for the event, is vice chair of the WSNA’s Political Action Committee.
Edna Cortez, chair of WSNA’s Labor Executive Council, and a former co-chair of the Seattle Children’s bargaining unit, fired up the crowd with calls for unity.
Outside of the pulsating union energy, there was free food supplied by Chik’n Fix and Tacos Cortes, swag, photo ops, and raffles. Members from all three facilities signed up to share their stories, be observers during negotiations, talk to new hires at their facilities, and be on the Contract Action Teams.
The nurse leaders at the three facilities envisioned an event that pulled together members who will all be bargaining in Seattle simultaneously in the late spring and early summer.
The event was buzzing with laughter, great conversations, networking, and support for negotiations later in the year. The tables had QR codes so members could complete the Negotiation Survey and sign up for future action — a great way to build union POWER!
Linda Burbank is WSNA nurse representative for Seattle Children’s Hospital.