Recently Management sent a “Bargaining Update” to all WSNA RNs. Reading this update, some nurses may have concluded that it was a joint communication from Management and WSNA. IT WAS NOT. WSNA had no role in preparing the “update” which was, instead, prepared solely by Management. WSNA does not produce joint communications with Management, as we prefer to provide accurate material for our members to read and consider.

Management’s “update” does not present a complete picture of what is happening at the negotiating table, as you will see below.

In a nutshell, Management has proposed drastic changes to your current paid-leave benefits that, if Management has its way, would begin to take effect in 2020.

Your WSNA bargaining team does not feel these changes are in our best interest, and we are fighting hard at the table to ensure that you have fully-paid time away from work for vacations and to care for ourself and our family members when they are ill. By being informed and knowing what is at stake, you can help our bargaining team accomplish its goal.

Management claim:
“New paid-leave benefits: “SHMC has proposed a comprehensive leave package to provide income protection that is more equal and just for all nurses”

WSNA – Management’s proposed Short-Term Disability (STD) plan would have serious negative consequences for our nurses by:

• Requiring nurses, once EIT goes away, to use PTO (vacation time) for 7 days, before being able to utilize Short Term Disability (STD) benefits that pay only 65%. Currently, nurses have to use only 8 to 16 hours of PTO (depending upon FTE) before accessing EIT, which is paid at 100%.
• Eliminating the accrual of EIT which currently can be used to care for sick family members and replace it with a STD plan which cannot be used to care for sick family members. You would have to use PTO (vacation) to care for sick family members.
• Requiring nurses to have STD claims approved by a third-party administrator, unlike the current EIT program. We have heard from nurses working under a Providence STD plan that the approval process is cumbersome and intrusive, with many hoops to jump through. Not every claim is approved.
• Reducing PTO accruals for many nurses.

Management claim: “Like medical insurance, our new paid-leave benefits are designed so that you never run out of coverage. All nurses will have protection”

WSNA – The proposed plan by Management does operate like medical insurance. In your opinion, how easily is a claim processed through medical insurance? Is it always covered? Guaranteed? We all know from our own experiences, medical insurance can be a cumbersome, frustrating process that leaves us in the dark when the final bill arrives. Your current contract, that includes your Extended Illness Time, protects your time off, and puts YOU in the driver’s seat. Not anyone else. Under the new STD plan, a third party would decide whether your claim is approved.

Management claim: “We have proposed a new employer paid short term disability plan that will provide 65% of pay for up to 25 weeks, starting after the seventh calendar day of time away due to an illness or injury”

WSNA – Not only will this “new” plan not cover your full wages, you will be required to apply for the coverage and await approval. Nothing is automatic. Right now, your current WSNA contract provides you predictability - not unknowns. Furthermore, you must wait a full 7 days before any coverage will kick in if approved. During the 7 days, you must use PTO or EIT, which will stop accruing after 2019 and will NOT be available to any nurse hired after 2019. The new STD plan will require you to use your valuable vacation time, once EIT goes away, to supplement the 35% that is not covered (If you qualify and are approved to use the STD) if you want to replace 100% of your wages while you are on STD. Your vacation bank will dwindle and leave you less time to take off to recuperate and spend time with your loved ones. Your current contract provides EIT which is paid at 100%.

Management claim: “The new proposed plan would cover all benefits-eligible nurses with the same competitive PTO program. Nurses can use PTO for vacation, holidays, personal days or incidental sick time.”

WSNA – Hardly. Management is proposing to decrease PTO accrual rates for many nurses with more than 3 years of service:

Moreover, Management has reported that managers will earn PTO at a higher level than what is being offered to WSNA. While Management has proposed to increase the cap to the maximum accumulation, the accrual rates are less for more tenured nurses, and it will be difficult for you to reach the max time if you are forced to use it for a sickness lasting less than 7 days. This is a far cry from what you currently have. WSNA has proposed to increase PTO accruals.

Management claim: “We have proposed that nurses would be able to use EIT hours for a period of time during a transition period to receive pay while out on an approved leave to care for a family member. If you exhaust your EIT, the new Washington state leave benefits will provide additional protection – including up to 12 weeks of partial income replacement while out on leave to care for … a family member.”

WSNA – Under Management’s proposal, nurses who are hired after 2019, are not eligible to participate in the EIT program at all. Current employees will not be allowed to accrue any more EIT after 2019 In its proposal, Management has not committed to allowing nurses to use their frozen EIT balances for time off after 2020. For those nurses who have more than 300 hours of EIT, you will be able to cash out any hours above this only upon termination after 20 years of service or more and will receive payout only at 20%.

What does this mean for paid time off to care for a family member? Once your EIT balance goes way, you cannot use the STD plan to receive paid time off to care for a family member because the STD plan covers only yourself, not your family members. That leaves you with the Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (WPFML) benefits which is not a benefit created by Providence but rather a state law requirement. Management left out a several important facts about WPFML:

• There is a 7-day waiting period, except for birth or placement of a child.
• You must file a claim with Washington’s Employment Security Department (ESD), notify the employer of the request, and meet certain eligibility requirements. You receive benefits only if ESD approves your claim.
• You will pay a premium for WPFML benefits which will be taken from your paycheck. You will pay about 63% of the total premium while Providence will pay 37% of the premium.
• The amount that you receive for WPFML a is a percentage of your weekly wage. The maximum benefit that you can receive is $1,000 per week. It has been estimated that a nurse making $80,000 per year would hit the $1,000 limit.

Furthermore, while the rulemaking process for WPFML has not yet been completed, it appears that you will not be able to use PTO/EIT for the same period that you use WPFML. Therefore, you cannot “top up” your WPFML benefit with PTO/EIT to ensure that you receive 100% of your income while you are away from work. RCW 50A.04.045 (2) states: "An employer may allow an employee who has accrued vacation, sick, or other paid time off to choose whether: (a) To take such leave; or (b) not to take such leave and receive paid family or medical leave benefits, as provided in RCW 50A.04.020.” In other words, you cannot receive both at the same time.

More information about this can be found at paidleave.wa.gov.

Management claim: “To help nurses transition to the newly proposed plans, we are negotiating valuable support with your union”

WSNA – This is far from the truth. While WSNA negotiates always in good faith, we have made it clear to Management that sick time is valued amongst WSNA and the nurses, and that its proposed STD plan is not good for nurses or for patients.

Real life scenarios:
Scenarios based on current contract and Management’s proposed changes to PTO/EIT. These scenarios would apply to all nurses hired after 2019 and to all currently employed nurses whose EIT banks will be frozen after 2019 and who have exhausted their existing EIT balances.

#1 RN who works 24 hours per week (three 8-hour shifts) in a benefited position and has worked at SHMC for 4 years has a bad cold/fever and calls in sick all three of her shifts that week.

Current contract:
RN currently would have to use 8 hours of PTO at full rate of pay.
Then RN would use 16 hours of EIT at full rate of pay.
At step 5 of the pay scale rate of pay would be $36.23/hour.
RN would receive full pay of $869.52.
This nurse accrues 144 hours (18 days) of PTO per year.

Management’s proposal:
RN currently would have to use 24 hours of PTO at full rate of pay.
At step 5 of the pay scale rate of pay would be $36.23/hour.
RN would receive full pay of $869.52 but all of it would be the RN’s accrued PTO.
This nurse accrues 134.4 hours (16.8 days) of PTO per year. (Accrues 9.6 hours less PTO and forced to use it when sick.)

In the above scenario, this nurse will be using 16 hours more of their PTO while earning 9.6 hours less PTO per year.

#2 RN who works 32 hours per week (four 8-hour shifts) in a benefited position and has worked at SHMC for 11 years has a bad cold/fever and calls in sick for two calendar weeks.

Current contract:
RN currently would have to use 12 hours of PTO at full rate of pay.
Then RN would use 52 hours of EIT at full rate of pay.
At step 12 of the pay scale rate of pay would be $44.42/hour.
RN would receive full pay of $2842.88.
This nurse accrues 230.4 hours (28 days) of PTO per year.

Management’s proposal:
RN currently would have to use 32 hours of PTO at full rate of pay.
At step 12 of the pay scale rate of pay would be $44.42/hour.
RN would use 32 hours of their PTO for first week of illness 32x $44.42 = $1421.44.
RN would receive 32 hours of short-term disability at 65% pay or $923.94 if they qualify for a total pay of $2345.38.
This nurse accrues 211.2 hours (26.4 days) of PTO per year which is 19.2 hours less than currently.

Using the above scenario, the RN will receive $497.50 less in their paycheck after 2021 and will be using 20 more hours of PTO while accruing 19 hours less PTO per year.

**Using the above scenarios if it were your child or spouse that was ill you would have to use PTO for all hours off unless you qualified for the state Family and Medical Leave Program.**

What we have to say…

Your fellow nurses on the WSNA bargaining team continue the fight at the table, and it’s up to all of us to stand together with one voice to secure an fair contract! If this is the first time you are hearing this information, it is because you have missed a WSNA local unit meeting. Come to the next local unit meeting. There is room on the CAT for more boots on the ground. Sacred Heart Nurses, you are strong and Management knows it! Tell Sacred Heart we will stand together and defend our contract from Management’s attack!



Find all this confusing? You’re not alone…
Come to the next local unit meeting. Your negotiating team and WSNA nurse reps will be available for one on one discussions of any questions you may have.

April 24, 2019
Spokane Regional Labor Council, AFL-CIO (New Location!)
510 S Elm St #1, Spokane, WA 99201
8-9 a.m., 1:30-2:30 p.m., 4-5 p.m., 8-9 p.m.

Questions? Or want an honest answer? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Jaclyn Perkins, BSN, RN at jperkins@wsna.org or (800) 231-8482, ext. 3118.