A week ago, we asked a federal mediator to join us for the next scheduled sessions – today, April 12, April 17, and April 24. In our Union caucus with the mediator, we shared that we have trouble taking Management at face value when they overturned the staffing plan that was unanimously agreed to the Staffing Committee, when Management back-tracked on what it has said about the limited role CANM’s are supposed to play, and when their decision to implement WorkDay – a new HRIS system that is wreaking havoc with people’s pay across the country – forces changes to our contract. Management tells us that WorkDay will force reductions in premium pay, change the way seniority is calculated, and foist takeaways throughout the unit and that we just have to deal with it. We have offered multiple options to improve staffing, ratios, and break nurses with little movement or compromise from management, but so much of *our* time in bargaining has been spent having to deal with management’s unilateral decisions.

The federal mediator conveyed our concerns to Management and then spent time speaking with them alone. We did reach tentative agreements on several small open articles today. The federal mediator gave both the Union and Management the assignment of coming to our next negotiation day on Wednesday ready to discuss the hard topics: staffing ratios and break nurses.

If you want to observe negotiations and see how the sausage gets made, next Wednesday is going to be one you won’t want to miss! Email or text Grace Lamonte at glamonte@wsna.org or 206-553-9794.

Keep those picket pledges coming!

Picket pledges are coming in from all departments. Massive props to CVIR, L&D, and GI for reaching 100% on picket pledges! Remember that we do not have a date set for the picket yet – signing the pledge just means that if you are able to make it on the day of the picket, you will! Picket pledge signatures are confidential and are not shared with management.

So, what is an informational picket? On a day that nurses regularly work, nurses march, carry picket signs, and hand out leaflets on the public sidewalks in front of the hospital to amplify concerns to the hospital’s leadership and to the community. Nurses work and continue to work – an informational picket is *not* a work stoppage or strike.

Is it similar to a strike? No, during an informational picket, nurses continue to go to work. Staff scheduled to work should go to work. Patients scheduled for care should go and get their care. If a nurse is working, they are free to come join the picket line before or after their shift, or on your break. At a strike, nurses do not go to work. A strike is a tool that unions have, but they are a tool of last resort that only happen after a substantial majority of nurses vote to hold one.

Can I get in trouble if my manager doesn’t like that I’m picketing? No, in fact, it is illegal for managers to question or discipline any nurse for talking about or participating in an informational picket. The National Labor Relations Act explicitly protects participation in this type of union activity.

Get on Soc Med

See Dawn Morrell, former Washington legislator and 38-year GSH nurse, urging nurses to hit the streets on IG @gshnurses or on our Facebook page, Good Samaritan Nurses.See Dawn Morrell, former Washington legislator and 38-year GSH nurse, urging nurses to hit the streets on IG @gshnurses or on our Facebook page, Good Samaritan Nurses.

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

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

Need shirts (larger sizes are now available), buttons, stickers, or want to know how to get involved: contact Grace LaMonte, WSNA Organizer glamonte@wsna.org.