Today we met for our seventh negotiation session, we started the day by listening to management’s response to our proposal on vacations. The good news is that management is largely in agreement with the scheduling process we have proposed for vacations. We went through a dry run of how the scheduling process would work in API. The scheduling process will involve two rounds of scheduling vacations – nurses will be contacted at a set appointment to select a vacation of between 7-21 days in round one. After everyone’s had a chance to put in for vacation, they’ll get a chance to bid for a second vacation of between 7-14 days. After those initial selection rounds, vacations can be submitted on a rolling basis. Nurse interns would be allowed to submit vacation requests after the end of round two, before the rolling vacation request period begins, to ensure that interns are able to get some vacation time.

We also discussed our strong interest in there being a firm commitment to allow a certain number of nurses off each shift. We asked for a commitment of allowing at least two nurses off per shift and will hear back from management on this proposal next session.

We know that with a new system there will be questions, please reach out to your nurse representative Carmen Garrison at cgarrison@wsna.org.

We brought up an interest we feel strongly about, union security. We want all nurses to be treated equitably – nurses hired into the bargaining unit should not be allowed to freeride. Everyone should have to pay their fair share. This will allow us to have a strong voice. We are now waiting for a response form management.

Management brought up an interest in discussing meal breaks and clocking in issues. We shared the interest that we want to have accurate records and nurses getting paid correctly. We agreed that nurses should be required to review their timecards each pay period. We did not agree with management’s proposal to seek a variance from the Department of Labor and Industries to permanently waive nurses’ right to take a second meal period.

We spent the middle of the day discussing Staffing Committee - we both agree that we have a high functioning committee that is generally working pretty well. We discussed ideas to improve the NSC, like making the CEO/CFO attend once a year. We also discussed our interest in memorializing the practices that are working well so that they can’t be changed by management at some point in the future.

Lastly, we wrapped up the day by disusing our dissatisfaction with travelers seeming to get priority over core staff when it comes to things like getting the best schedules and not having to float. We strongly belief bargaining unit members should be the hospital’s priority. Management listened and heard out our concerns. Management understood our frustration and acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, while also explaining their interest in ensuring the hospital is safely staffed with the appropriate skill mix. We will bring back some language in a later session.

We are back at the table on May 31, and WSNA's Strategic Researcher will be presenting financial information to the CFO. We will have more to come on economics, we will begin that discussion on the 31st. We agreed to future negotiation dates, we will be bargaining on June 6 and June 13. Please continue to wear your buttons to support your team!

In Solidarity, your negotiating team: Sara Bergenholtz, Nick Jackson, Lorna Sebastian, Stefanie Gates, Karla Bourgeois, Paul Stamilio, Paul Molenaar, and Blaine Wuertz