Save the date for Nurses Week! 

We have scheduled a gathering on:

Wednesday May 7 from 2-6 pm at the PACCAR Insight conference room.

Stay tuned for details. Be assured that food and swag will be involved 😊. Conversations about union issues are ALWAYS welcome, too. We look forward to celebrating with you!

Health Benefits Advisory Committee

As per the contract, we are entitled to seats for TWO WSNA nurses (we would like an alternate, too). Overlake communicated to your officers that they are ready to launch this committee. We need TWO more WSNA nurses who are passionate about health benefits that are quality, affordable, and accessible for all Overlake employees. It will be paid release time to participate (monthly or quarterly TBD) to prepare for open enrollment, which will be here before you know it. Wouldn't you love to have a seat at this table……and not on the menu? Message your Chair Chris Birchem lmh-ccb@comcast.net or email Nurse Rep Tara at tbarnes@wsna.org by May 2.

Timekeeping check-in

It has been over a month since the start of to the minute timekeeping. We are hearing good news following a bumpy start in several departments and some areas that have significant challenges to overcome, especially in areas with donning and doffing of hospital scrubs. Tell us all about it here in this quick follow-up survey. It is VERY helpful to hear from departments where it is not working so well. We are using these responses to continue to provide feedback at the hospital staffing and conference committees every month! This survey closes May 2.

Open local unit officer positions

1. Co-chair who works closely with the chair in leading the local unit
2. Grievance officers to advise on potential contract violations and attend investigatory meetings with coworkers.
3. Membership officers to be part of the team that presents WSNA at new hire for 30 minutes every month.

It is crucial to have several grievance and membership officers, to lighten the load for all the officers and maximize the benefit to your WSNA peers in a union organized workplace. Overlake RNs are stronger together! Contact Nurse Rep Tara Barnes

Taser Q and A

As promised, we have received responses to our questions regarding the intended rollout of tasers by trained Overlake security officers as a last resort to deescalate violence. Still no word on the roll out date. The employer did send out a security update on April 7 to employees, according to the responses provided to us. See the PDF on your WSNA webpage with the questions we posed, and the responses received.

Contractual grievances

These follow a defined procedure to address alleged breaches of the terms and conditions of your collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The following are grievances at varying progress points, per article 18 in your CBA. While we endeavor to solve problems at the lowest possible level, there are times when filing formal union grievances becomes necessary:

1. CCU group grievance for violation of the staffing plan has completed step 2. Thank you to the CCU nurses for continuing to stand together on this serious issue! Stay tuned for next steps.
2. Return to work following approved leave of absence grievance for violation of sections of article 16 has completed step 1.
3. Discipline without just cause per article 6.

Link to your full CBA on your local unit web page. Check it out!

Link to your local unit webpage to contact your WSNA officers, access your contract and a full archive of all WSNA communications:

Follow us on the private FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/OverlakeRNs If you don’t belong to the private FB group, follow the link and select JOIN so an administrator can admit you!

Or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wsna_overlake/

Questions about this newsletter? Contact a local unit officer or Nurse Representative Tara Barnes tbarnes@wsna.org.