February 24, 2025

The bargaining teams met Monday for our 27^th day at the table, this time with a hybrid mediator joining us.  Caitlin Orange, Megan Baute, Chris Gallup and Rochelle Mason were at the table on behalf of the Mares bargaining team, and  Jim Chase came to observe the process as well.

While we can’t share too many specifics about proposals passed during mediation, we can say we made some headway and reached tentative agreements on a handful of sections throughout the contract.  There are now only 22 open items remaining, and they concern six main issues: (1) management’s rights to make changes to policies during the life of our contract, (2) the rules that will govern union membership moving forward, (3) nurse residents’ membership in the union, (4) recognition of status quo rules at Mares for things like shift start times, vacation requests, and report pay, (5) your right to join a picket line on your days off, and, of course, (6) retirement matching rates that are equal to those at Central. We’ll be back at the table on 3/10 for another day of mediation.

What is next?

We’ve had so many nurses ask about next steps. How can we show management that we want to be treated fair?  How can we get the message to them that our wages and retirement compensation are important to us? We want to be able to not only serve our community now but afford to live here when we retire later.  Over the few last sessions, we have done our best explaining why these last few items are important to us. Honestly, we don’t think we’re asking for a whole lot. But what we do know if that we need to get back to focusing on patient care. We need a contract now. We need to urge management to do the right thing and take care of the nurses that take care of our community. Isn’t that the Confluence Way? Said below by Confluence themselves.

This means it’s time to take the next step: We’re launching an informational picket pledge.

Sign the pledge and ask your coworkers to do the same! Members of the bargaining team are circulating now with picket pledge forms. Find one today and sign the pledge if you're ready to hit the streets in support of a fair contract! Stay tuned for details like timing, location, and more over the coming weeks. Take a group picture of nurses filing out pledges and send it to mares@wsna.org.

Additional picket FAQs

For a reminder on the difference between a picket and a strike, check our picket FAQ here.

Upcoming Bargaining Sessions:

March 10, 2025- Washington Apple Commission

March 19, 2025-Washington Apple Commission

Observers- We welcome our bargaining unit nurses to come sit at the table and watch the process. Your presence is an action of solidarity with your bargaining team, and we appreciate this.

Let us know if you want to attend!

In Solidarity,
Your Bargaining team

Chris Gallup, OR, Co-Chair
Marshall Snoddy, OR, Co-Chair
Megan Baute, GI, Secretary
Caitlin Orange, GI, Treasurer
Mateo Maestas, OR, Grievance Officer
Rochelle Mason, ED, Membership Officer
Waikele Frantz, Rehab/ Medsurg, Unit Liaison

Laurie Robinson
WSNA Nurse Representative
lrobinson@wsna.org

Jenny Galassi
Nurse Organizer
jgalassi@wsna.org