Hello Overlake Nurses,

It is time for another long update. As always, ambivalence is the name of the game; here are the highlights:

The least you need to know:

• Vaccine mandate implications are still being bargained.
• We must be vaccinated or exempt prior to Oct 18.
• L&I/DOSH complaint being investigated, spurring changes in practice.
• Retaliation and discrimination are illegal and enforceable, get in touch if you are concerned.

Vaccine mandate

We continue to bargain the implementation of the COVID vaccine mandate. We have exchanged proposal with the employer and are working on some questions. This still means that everyone must comply with an appropriate exemption or full vaccination prior to Oct. 18 or risk losing employment. Here is our official stance:

• We are in favor of everyone who can get the vaccine, getting the vaccine.
• We also want to support and protect those nurses who have religious or medical exemptions.
• We are in favor of safety and protection for workers who could be exposed or compromised

And that last part is important and maybe not stated enough. We must insist in appropriate safety measures for all workers. That includes distancing, air circulation, masking and risk minimization. And on that note…

Personal Safety:

We must insist that regardless of personal feelings on masks, COVID and vaccination, everyone follow the appropriate guidelines to keep everyone safe. This includes masking all the time unless eating in an appropriate space and appropriately distanced. While we want to be respectful of a persons right to choose what happens to their body, we also want to respect people's right to safety. Please, please, please protect each other. We feel that Overlake’s infection guidelines are lax compared to CDC guidelines and need the staff to enforce what the hospital isn’t, which lead into…

L&I/DOSH and DOH Investigations:

We have filed several complaints with regulatory bodies, including L&I, about inappropriate PPE standards, among other issues. L&I started its investigation a week or so ago, and you may have noticed investigators. We believe that the complaint we filed and the resulting DOSH investigation has already led to worker safety improvements. The hospital will again provide scrubs to ED and CCU nurses. All workers must know their rights and understand that reporting health and safety concerns and filing DOSH complaints are protected union activity under the National Labor Relations Act and are covered by Whistleblowers' protections at federal and state levels.

We are investigating reports about managers intimidating and retaliating against nurses for participating in the DOSH/L&I investigation and filing ADOs. Be assured that WSNA will take swift and immediate action for any instance of substantiated violations of your protected rights. If the administrators do anything intimidating, discriminatory, or retaliatory against you or your co-workers because you are speaking up about workplace health and safety or patient safety, contact your unit representative or Sam Scholl, our nurse rep, immediately. If any regulatory DOH or L&I investigator reaches out to you, talk with them and tell them if you have been pressured not to speak.

Read more about your rights at:

https://www.wsna.org/nursing-practice/whistleblower

Please see this pamphlet on your rights and antidiscrimination around workplace safety:

https://cdn.wsna.org/assets/lo...

Please see the document on what PPE standards should look like in hospitals for COVID patients:

https://cdn.wsna.org/assets/lo...

Links and conclusions:

Protect your license, file an ADO: https://www.wsna.org/ado

Reasons to file an ADO: https://www.wsna.org/union/ado

If you had MOT, file an L&I complaint: https://secure.lni.wa.gov/wagecomplaint/#/

If you have patient safety concerns, file a DOH Complaint: https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/providercredentialsearch/ComplaintIntakeForm.aspx

Please contact our WSNA Nurse Rep Sam Scholl for anything sscholl@wsna.org.

Please let our WSNA Organizer Zach Seikel know if you want to be more involved zseikel@wsna.org.

Concerned about staffing? Join the Staffing Committee. Inquire with the above.

If you are not already, become a member. Our union at Overlake is as strong as the members make it. https://www.wsna.org/membership/application/union

Your WSNA Officers,
Chris Birchem, Janet Moore-Lane, Cassie Bundick, Kathryn Geren, Natalie Anderson, Emnet Bizuneh