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Kindred Local Unit Officer Nominations – 2024 – Send in your nominations now

It is time to elect our local unit officers. Our strength and effectiveness as a bargaining unit directly relate to the level of participation of the members. Elected WSNA Local Unit Officers, Unit Reps and Committee Members work together with the WSNA Nurse Representative and are the backbone of our local unit. You must send your nominations to Nurse Representative Sara Frey no later than July 7, 2024. sfrey@wsna.org

 Overviews of each local unit officer position are provided with this form. If you are interested in being a leader in our local unit or know someone who might be a great candidate, this is your opportunity to nominate yourself or someone whom you feel would fill the role well. Training for each of these positions will be provided. Officers may succeed themselves. Please nominate yourself or someone else. If you are nominating someone as Local Unit Officer, other than yourself, it needs to be with their agreement, so encourage them to run and ask them to complete a Consent to Serve form. If you are nominating yourself, please complete your own Consent to Serve form. All nominees must be members in good standing.

Officer Positions:

Co-Chair (2)

Secretary (1)

Treasurer (1)

Grievance Officer(s) (up to 3)

Members at large (2)

Nominations with the Consent to Serve Form must be emailed to sfrey@wsna.org  by the end of the day on July 7, 2024.

Co-Chair 

The Local Unit Chairs is the leader and coordinator of the local unit. The Chair is responsible for ensuring that goals and business of the Local Unit are accomplished. The goals are that members are informed and involved, that the Local Unit Rules are followed, and committees are functioning and accountable. Sounds like a big job–it is! Don’t worry– you do not have to do this alone!

Secretary

The Local Unit Secretary as an officer and member of the Local Unit Executive Committee is responsible for ensuring that all officers and committees of the local unit are notified of upcoming meetings and events. The Local Unit Secretary assists with gathering information for the local unit newsletters and works with the Local Unit Chair in sending the materials to the WSNA Nurse Representative at the WSNA Office.

Treasurer 

In 1978, the membership of the Washington State Nurses Association voted to allocate 4% of dues paid by each member of a bargaining unit to a local unit fund to be used to support activities of each local unit. Since then, funds have been used to assist local unit officers and others to carry on the important tasks before them in representing the interests of members. The Treasurer’s duties include authorizing and signing for payment of bills that have been approved by the Chairperson; keeping an itemized account of all receipts and disbursements; reporting to the Executive Committee on the status of the dues.

Grievance Officer 

The Grievance Officer is an important office in the local bargaining unit and a member of the Local Unit Executive Team. The Grievance Officer oversees contract enforcement using the grievance procedure found in the contract, and by doing so, advocates for all nurses

Member at large 

Serve as communications coordination. Communications shall: contribute ideas for member and external communication; coordinate the distribution of approved messages to Local Unit members, labor allies and the community; perform other duties described in the WSNA Local Unit Officer Handbook and those delegated by the Executive Committee. Members shall attend new employee orientation to welcome and invite new bargaining unit members to join WSNA; maintain local unit liaison contact information and recruit liaisons for every unit and every shift; develop programs and activities that cause all eligible persons to join and participate in the Local Unit; perform other duties described in the WSNA Local Unit Officer Handbook and those delegated by the Executive Committee.

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Resources and tools

Document unsafe conditions

If you find yourself in a situation that you believe creates unsafe conditions for patients or for you, you should complete a Staffing Complaint / ADO Form as soon as possible.

By completing the form, you will help make the problem known to management, creating an opportunity for the problem to be addressed. Additionally, you will be documenting the facts, which may be helpful to you later if there is a negative outcome.

WSNA also uses your ADO forms to track the problems occurring in your facility. When you and your coworkers take the important step of filling out an ADO form, you are helping to identify whether there is a pattern of unsafe conditions for you or your patients at your facilities. This information is used by your conference committee, staffing committee, and WSNA labor staff to improve your working conditions.

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Representation rights

As a union member, you have the right to have a representative present in any meetings with management that could potentially lead to disciplinary action against you.

If called into a meeting with management, read the following to management when the meeting begins:

If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, I respectfully request that my union representative be present at this meeting. Without representation present, I choose not to participate in this discussion.

Find out more about this crucial right and how to exercise it to ensure your fair treatment and protection.

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Continuing education offerings

Enhance your professional competency with WSNA's free online courses.

Earn CNE contact hours through topics like Cultural Humility, Telehealth Assessment, Workplace Violence Prevention, and more. Convenient and self-paced, our courses provide practical knowledge for your daily work. Expand your skills and stay up-to-date with the latest nursing practices.

Visit cne.wsna.org