Our major issues continue to be the same: Safe Staffing and Break Nurses. Because we have been negotiating in confidential mediation, we are not able to share the details of what we are discussing. What we can say is that management wants us to keep moving in their direction and we haven’t seen any proposals from them that show that they truly grasp how critical the staffing crisis is at Good Sam. These are issues vitally important to nurses and to our community. We won’t give in; we won’t give up! We are enraged! We need you to stand strong with us as we fight for a fair contract. We proposed dates next week to bargain. Management said they’re available to meet on June 29, three weeks away. Management doesn’t feel any urgency to get this contract done – it’s time to turn up the heat. If you want these negotiations to successfully end *soon*, take the strike assessment and get your coworkers to do the same.

Are you getting your breaks?

We understand that management is finally getting on board with nurses taking all of their breaks and – if they can’t – actually putting in for a missed break. Unfortunately, some managers (looking at you, PULSE) are putting out misinformation about so-called intermittent breaks. Brief personal activities (bathroom breaks, grabbing a drink, checking your phone) *do not count towards/as break time*. This is crystal clear in Washington State law. If your manager tries to deny or shorten your break because they saw you using your phone, etc., they are violating meal & rest break laws in Washington. Put in for every missed break and fill out an ADO

Get in your strike assessment!

We’re making great progress on strike assessments so far. These are critical to making sure we understand what actions the bargaining unit is willing to take – our power at the bargaining table comes from YOU. A coworker who has been trained on strike assessments will be connecting with you at some point to ask you three questions that help us determine what you’re willing to do:

1. Are you willing to go on strike?
2. Are you willing to not cross the picket line?
3. Are you willing to walk the picket line on your assigned shifts, or help at the picket line in another way?

We need honest answers about these questions: we know that going on strike is a serious decision, and if you need to talk with your family or think about it more it’s okay to do that! Please feel free to reach out to anyone on the bargaining team or your unit rep if you have questions, or check out our Strike FAQ on our local unit homepage. Striking is a tool, and it’s the most powerful one we have: before we authorize a strike vote, we want to make sure every nurse’s thoughts, questions, and concerns are heard.

Sip and Chat

We’re adding a new sip and chat time! We’ll be talking about negotiations updates on Thursday nights at 8:00pm, and Friday mornings at 8:00am. You can use this link for both times.

New Nurses: Make sure you’re a member!

In order to vote in a contract ratification or strike authorization vote, you must be a full WSNA member in good standing. Even if you receive communications from WSNA, you’re not a full member until you submit an application – not everyone was able to fill out an application when we were doing virtual New Employee Orientations, so please make sure you check to see if your dues are being deducted from your paycheck! If you’re not a member, you can fill out an online application at this link. Contact glamonte@wsna.org if you have any issues, or if you want to check your membership status.

Membership application - WSNA

In solidarity, your bargaining team:

Mindy Thornton, Jared Richardson, Aaron Bradley, Raeli Korzeniecki, Dawn Morrell, Anne Landen, Ashley Eubanks, Atalia Lapkin, Erin Butler, and Paul Grantham

If you’d like to observe bargaining or want to know how you can get more involved with your union, contact Organizer Grace Lamonte GLamonte@wsna.org.

Questions/Issues, contact Janet Stewart, WSNA Nurse Representative jstewart@wsna.org.