On September 26^, the teams met for our 20^th day of bargaining. We were disappointed the parties did not reach any new agreements at the table this week; instead of continuing to make progress toward a deal, management has continued to tell us that “they are looking at this” when we ask for responses to the proposals, we have made over the past several months. 

Management was particularly cagey about committing to bargain over terms that would apply to GI and Perioperative nurses’ schedules if the Hospital decides to open their departments over the weekends. Despite management telling us in a workgroup session in July that it has no plans to open these departments over weekends, management’s attorney refused to commit on paper to bargaining over this issue, instead insisting the Hospital will “meet and confer” with us before changing our terms and conditions of employment. But we know better: a commitment to “meet and confer” is not the same as a commitment to bargain in good faith, and our lead negotiator made it clear that we will not waive our right to bargain over this critical scheduling issue. 

This isn’t the only issue where management has gone in circles. Here’s where things stand on other key terms in our contract:

• To date, management has refused to pay us the same retirement matching rates that it pays Central’s nurses. At the table, they’ve told us this was because we filed a petition for recognition as our own unit, and that we could have had Central’s retirement rates if we’d joined that unit instead. If management does not change course on this issue, we plan to file an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB over this issue; we believe management is unlawfully and expressly withholding a benefit from us in retaliation for our exercising our right to file that petition.
• Despite the NLRB’s certification of our bargaining unit as one that covers all full-time and part-time acute care nurses working in our hospital, management has refused to agree that nurse residents are part of our bargaining unit.
• After what we thought was a productive work group conversation about PACU start time consistency, management said they were “not excited” by our proposal that captured the status quo five-week rotation on paper. They had previously rejected our more flexible proposal, which would have required them to notify PACU nurses of their shift start times a week in advance. We will continue to push management to commit on paper to start time consistency for our PACU nurses.
• To date, management has not agreed to keep Medical/Surgical and Rehab’s start times at 0600 and 1800 each day. We’re hopeful that they will come to the table on this issue because it would be particularly disruptive to patient care routines on this floor if their start times changed.
• We have continued to go back and forth with management on several proposals where they’ve copied and pasted language from Central’s contract that doesn’t apply to our unit. For example, management continues to propose language that includes an “Appendix F” concerning pool nurse incentives, but it has not provided us with that Appendix to date. They’ve also repeatedly proposed language from Central’s bilingual premium MOU, which grants management the right to revoke the MOU with 30 days’ notice. We’ve reminded them that we are our own bargaining unit, we are not bargaining an MOU, and we will not commit to language we have not seen.
• Management has proposed shift differential rates that are lower than our status quo rates, straying from the percentage-based model that has worked well for our facility and Central’s for years.
• Management has insisted on our waiving our legally protected right to join a picket line to support striking co-workers at Confluence facilities during our non-working hours. We have repeatedly told them we have no intention of waiving this protected right to show our solidarity on our personal time.

The gridlock in negotiations and the constant wheel-spinning we’re doing on issues like this led us to requesting a mediator for upcoming sessions, and management agreed. We will have more information soon on when and how mediation will play a role in our negotiations. In the meantime, our next date for bargaining is October 15.

We think we’re close to reaching an agreement on our bargaining unit’s wage scale and each nurse’s placement on that scale. Because many Mares nurses have never worked on a union wage scale before, we want to provide an example to you to understand how and when you will receive wage increases each year.  

Look for this next week on your WSNA bulletin boards.

Your Team needs your support! Show that we’re all fighting for a fair contract together by wearing your WSNA shirts, “I support the bargaining team” button or sticker, or blue scrubs! You can find the buttons and stickers on the WSNA bulletin board in your break room. If you need a WSNA t-shirt, reach out and we will get one to you.

Lastly, we love to see and share photos of RNs wearing their WSNA gear! Please send photos of you and your co-workers showing your support to your Nurse Organizer, Jenny Galassi, 206-707-2948, jgalassi@wsna.org. We’ll share them with the rest of the bargaining unit in upcoming newsletters!

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

Questions/Concerns Contact Laurie Robinson, WSNA Nurse Representative, 206-620-4136,  lrobinson@wsna.org.

For more information on how you can get involved contact Jenny Galassi, Nurse Organizer, 206-707-2948, jgalassi@wsna.org.