Your retirement plan is the single biggest item that remains on the table in negotiations for our first contract. Your bargaining team heard you loud and clear: we want equal pay with our union siblings at Central, and that includes our retirement benefits. Management has refused to even entertain the idea of giving Mares nurses the same retirement benefits Central’s nurses receive. Instead, they’ve insisted on our keeping the 401(k) plan that leaves our pay 8-12% behind Central’s by default.

Here’s exactly how our two plans stack up:

• Central’s nurses participate in Confluence’s 403(b) plan. A nurse participating in the 403(b) must work for Confluence for at least two years and make a minimum contribution to their own retirement account to participate in the Hospital’s matching program. That minimum contribution is approximately 6% of their pre-tax pay each year plus an additional 0.05% for each year the nurse has worked for Confluence. If a nurse meets those requirements, Confluence matches the nurse’s contribution at a 2:1 rate – in other words, it contributes double what each nurse does. 
  
  For example, if Nurse A has worked for Central for 20 years, she would need to contribute 7% of her pre-tax pay to her retirement account to earn a match. If she did, Confluence would contribute another 14% to Nurse A’s retirement account on top of her existing pay. 
  
  
• Mares nurses participate in Confluence’s 401(k) plan. A nurse participating in the 401(k) plan must work for Confluence for at least one year. If a nurse contributes up to 3% of their pre-tax pay to their retirement account, Confluence matches that contribution at a 1:1 rate. If a nurse contributes more than 3%, Confluence matches up to 2% more at a 1:2 rate. That means no matter what a nurse contributes, Confluence’s matching contribution is never more than 4% of the nurse’s pre-tax pay. 
  
  If Nurse A worked for Mares for 20 years and contributed 7% of her pre-tax pay to her retirement account, Confluence would only match 4% of her contributions. Her pay would be 10% behind where it would have been at Central.

If we accepted management's retirement proposal, nurses at Mares would receive 8-12% less in total compensation than they would in an identical role at Central. For a senior nurse, that’s as much as $17,639 per year.

But you don’t have to take our word for it: you can see how much you personally stand to lose if management gets its way by using our retirement calculator tool, which compares what nurses would make at Central to what management wants them to make at Mares at every step of the pay scale. Plug in your FTE, years of experience, and your current retirement contribution rate to see how far behind Central you would be if management gets its way.

You can use our retirement calculator tool, which lets you input your FTE, years of experience, and current contribution rate to see the difference between management’s proposed retirement package and what you’d make at Central for the same work.

Since this is an interactive tool, it will take you one extra step to be able to enter your specific information.

Two options:

• Open in Google Sheets 
  Open in Google Sheets; go to File menu and select “Make a Copy.” (You’ll need to be logged in to a Google account for this to work.)

• Alternately, download the Excel file which is posted to this local unit web page. (clicking the document link should automatically perform the download to your device)
  You’ll need Microsoft Excel or another app capable of opening Excel files to use this option. Once downloaded, you can open the document and enter your information to see the calculations

It’s important to the bargaining team that you see in real numbers the negative impact Management’s proposal will have on the nurses at Mares. Please reach out to a bargaining team member, Laurie Robinson or Jenny Galassi for help downloading and using this tool. After you have seen your own numbers ask a co-worker if they were able to view theirs.

Help us show management that every nurse at Mares deserves the same pay, benefits, and respect Central’s nurses receive. We need nurses from every unit in the hospital to join us at the bargaining table on the morning of Friday, November 15^th, to show them we’re all in this together. Get in touch with a bargaining team member or Jenny Galassi, your WSNA Nurse Organizer, for details on where and when to meet.

Our Car signs are here and on your unit! 

Wenatchee Loves Nurses. It doesn’t get much truer than that, does it? Your union contract makes a difference to the lives at Mares and nurses in the Wenatchee valley. When we elevate the working conditions of the nurses of Confluence, we can work together to elevate the profession and the community we all share.

Help us distribute these signs around town so management never forgets our community is behind us. We have enough signs for every nurse to have two. Put one in your car and give one to a neighbor, local business or family member to show pride in the work nurses at Mares and Central do for their community. By recognizing the nurses at both Confluence campuses, we build unity and show Management we are over 600 Union strong nurses together!

Take a picture of your sign and send it to mares@wsna.org to be entered into our photo contest!

Mares Family Photo Raffle contest!

We want to take some time and remind ourselves why we are here. The nurses at Mares are a family and stand together for a fair contract addressing the issues important to them. Let’s have some fun! Keep sending in pictures of your kids, pets and coworkers!

3 $50 Pybus bucks to give away! Please send your photo to mares@wsna.org.

Join WSNA as a voting member!

Membership in WSNA still matters. As we near the finish line there are many important issues, we still need to reach a tentative agreement on with Management. Become an eligible voting member today and help the bargaining team get there! Once we reach a full tentative agreement with Confluence all nurses at Mares will get the opportunity to vote on their contract. Get ready now and become an eligible voting member today.

Join online now

Mark that Calendar: Calling for observers!

Your presence makes a difference. When we have observers at the bargaining table management notices, and we keep negotiations transparent. Friday’s session is going to be one that you won’t want to miss! WSNA has requested to have a federal mediator present. In mediation both the Nurses and Confluence agree to limit what we will say publicly as part of the agreement with the federal mediator. Confidentiality helps the parties make more open-ended proposals and brainstorm solutions collaboratively over the course of mediation.

Our first scheduled mediation session is on Nov.15. We are encouraging Mares nurses to come and observe – however, you must be willing to abide by all rules related to mediation, so please do not share what happens in our session outside the room! To observe the mediation session on Nov. 15, 2024, email Jenny Galassi, jgalassi@wsna.org or text 206-707-2948 to RSVP.

Future bargaining dates:

11/15/24
11/19/24
11/21/24

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.