Ratification VOTE on September 1, 2022!

· 0600-0900 at Main Campus in OC-9.730 (9th floor of ocean)
· 1100-1400 at Bellevue Surgery Center in Conference Room 2207
· 1800-2100 at Main Campus in OC-9.730 (9th floor of ocean)

Vote count will occur immediately after the last voting session.

Your bargaining team recommends a “YES” vote!

After 19 hours in the third day of mediation – our twelfth bargaining session – we have reached a historic tentative agreement with Children’s with $10 raises for all nurses within the next 12 months. While we wish we could have garnered even more, we want to recognize that the incredible turn-out at the picket and our solidarity in the workplace empowered us to aim high, act boldly, and win unprecedented raises. We were able to make the wage scale more equitable for nurses at the lower end of the scale while ensuring that senior nurses received increases we’ve never seen before at Children’s. Additionally, we converted progression on the wage scale to an equitable annual advancement rather than one that perpetuates part-timers falling behind every year (disproportionately affecting nurses who take part-time FTEs to care for loved ones). Also – we successfully fought off all management’s attempts at take-aways; this contract only has improvements.

Wages:

• Year 1: $6 per hour increase for all nurses (equates to a 17% raise to the base rate, 8% to Step 36); effective second full pay period after ratification (September 19, assuming the contract is ratified on September 1).
• Retro: nurses will receive a lump sum payment in the amount of $6 multiplied by all of the nurse’s paid straight time hours (e.g. if a nurse works an extra shift or overtime, that nurse will get $6 for each of those hours worked, but not at the overtime/premium multiplier) from August 1 through the day before the effective date of the contract (that is, ratification).
• Year 2: $4 per hour increase (equates to a 9% raise to base, 5% raise to Step 36).
• Year 3: 3%.

By the end of the contract, the base rate will have increased by 31%, from the current rate of $36.21 to $47.60 in August ’24 – a boost we sincerely hope will bring new nurses to Children’s and will help to keep newer nurses working here. Meanwhile, our senior nurses continue to earn the highest rate in Washington State – currently $77.18, and $89.80 in August ’24.

Wage Scale Progression:
[NOTE: there was an error in an earlier version of this summary that said that only FTE nurses will begin annual wage progression; that is incorrect – all nurses will begin climbing the wage scale annually on their anniversary upon ratification.]

Currently in Section 4.10 of the contract, a nurse advances on the wage scale based on the number of hours they work (specifically, a nurse only advances on the wage scale once they have worked the equivalent of a .8 FTE). As of ratification, all nurses will progress on the wage scale on their anniversary regardless of the number of hours worked.

Wage Scale Lookback:

• In Year 2 (August 2023), all nurses at .75 FTE and higher who are not at the step on the wage scale that reflects their years of experience as a licensed RN will be moved up to the proper step on the wage scale based on years as an RN before any time worked at SCH plus all time worked at SCH as at least a .6 FTE (e.g. a nurse who worked for 5 years before coming to Children’s who then worked for Children’s as a .75 for 5 years would be moved to the 10 year step; a nurse who worked as a .6 for 5 years at Children’s and has been working as a .75 for the last 5 years would be moved to the 10 year step). This is called a “lookback”.
• In Year 3 (August 2024), all nurses at .6-.74 FTE will be moved up accordingly.
• Per diems will benefit from the new annual step increase as well. If a per diem converts to FTE status at/after the lookback times, they will be brought up to the wage step that reflects their years of experience as an RN prior to coming to Children’s plus any years worked at SCH as at least a .6 FTE. Unfortunately, we could not persuade management to include years worked at Children’s as a per diem in the lookback in addition to the nurse’s current step. (e.g. At/after the lookback time, a per diem nurse who has worked as an RN for 5 years prior to coming to Children’s and is on Step 3 though they have worked at the hospital for 6 years, converts to a .75 FTE. That nurse would receive 5 years of credit for pre-Children’s work plus the 3 years for their current step.)

This will result in significant wage increases to many nurses who are or were part-timers or who are currently/were per diems and will/have converted to an FTE position.

ECMO Premium:
Sec. 9.13. Increased to $3/hour (currently $1/hour) for hours when they are assigned to a pump or are carrying the ECPR pager.

Float Pool Premium:
Sec. 9.10. Increased to $4.50/hour (from $4/hour).

Leaves of Absence:
Article 13. Several Leaves have been expanded to make them more generous in terms of time and more protective of a nurse’s rights upon returning. We’ve also clarified when a nurse doesn’t or does have to use annual leave/sick time to supplement Washington’s Paid Family Medical Leave (WPFML) as many nurses got conflicting messages from HR – a nurse does not have to supplement – but can if they choose – a leave with annual leave/sick time if they are also being covered by WPFML funding. Once WPFML funding runs out, if the nurse is still on leave, they will need to use annual leave/sick time to cover their FTE status. (nb: this is supposed to be current practice, but we understand that HR has not been delivering consistent messages). All leaves covered by FMLA can be taken intermittently (this is a clarification).

• Birth of a Child Leave (formerly, Maternity Leave). Now, if a nurse returns to work at the end of 6 months (was 12 weeks), they will return to the same unit, shift, and status. A nurse can extend this leave past 6 months with manager approval. If the nurse comes back to work during the terms of the extension agreement, they will be offered the first position for which the nurse is qualified.
• Health Leave. A nurse can extend this leave past 6 months with manager approval. If the nurse comes back to work during the terms of the extension agreement, they will be offered the first position for which the nurse is qualified.
• Welcoming Leave (formerly, Parenting Leave). This applies to non-birthing parents or adoptive parents. This leave must be taken within a year of the birth or adoption of the child. A nurse can extend this leave past 6 months with manager approval. If the nurse comes back to work during the terms of the extension agreement, they will be offered the first position for which the nurse is qualified.

NEW – Multi-Campus Floating:
New Sec. 5.6.1. If a nurse is originally scheduled at one campus and is assigned to another campus with less than 4 hours’ notice, they will receive $1/hour for all hours worked at the other campus. Premium continues if the nurse then returns to their original site during the same shift. Any delays due to transportation between the two sites will not be counted as a dependability occurrence.

NEW – Holiday Call:
Sec. 9.2. Now, nurses called to work from standby on holidays will receive double-time for a minimum of 3 hours.

Longevity Night Shift Differential:
Sec. 9.1.1. This diff has expanded to make it easier to qualify for this so more nurses working nights will receive this differential. Now, any nurse with two or more years at Children’s who is a night shift nurse or who works a twelve-hour shift that starts between 1500-2300 will receive an additional $.50 per hour in addition to the night shift differential.

Juneteenth:
Incredible that it took this long, but Juneteenth is now officially a holiday in our contract (we’re now at 10) and our annual leave has been increased by 8 hours to reflect this.

Addendum D (Ambulatory):
Effective August 1, 2023, ambulatory nurses will receive daily overtime if a nurse works past their scheduled shift. Also, Management can create 6- and/or 9-hour shifts and will bargain the effects of these new shifts with the union within the first year of the contract. Management assured us at the bargaining table that they were not planning on getting rid of 8-hour shifts.

NEW - Work on Holidays (Ambulatory):
Sec. 10.4.b – Ambulatory nurses will now have options to be paid if their clinic is closed for weather or other external emergency conditions, or on a holiday: access to the No Pay Bank (if available), access the nurse’s paid leave, take ambulatory holiday no pay, or access other opportunities to work either in their clinic on special projects (if available), or be floated to a work area that is open. If the nurse works in an area that is open on the holiday, the nurse will receive holiday pay.

Per Diems:
Sec. 4.7. Per diems are now eligible for paid sick leave.

Nurses with Advanced Degrees Premium:
Sec. 9.8. Nurses with doctoral degrees will receive an additional $1/hour.

Bargaining Team Pay:
Memorandum of Understanding (applicable to this contract only). If this Tentative Agreement is ratified by the bargaining unit, management will pay the bargaining team nurses at their regular rates of pay for eight hours per day that bargaining team nurses spent in each bargaining session from June 18, 2022 through August 16, 2022 (nb: this does not cover four of our bargaining sessions).

Floating:

• Sec. 5.6. The Hospital agreed to “clinical groupings” of nurse units: critical care units; acute care units (medical, surgical, CBDC inpatient/outpatient, rehab, ED, PBMU, and CBDC/infusion); and peri-op/OR. Nurses floating to or from the ED or PBMU will not be assigned as the primary nurse unless they are cross-trained and competent to do so.
• Each UBSC will create guidelines regarding floating that are in line with the following provision:
  • “Except in case of emergency, before floating a nurse out of the nurse’s clinical grouping, the Employer will reasonably attempt to use existing resources within the clinical grouping. The Employer is not required to provide overtime or shift incentive in order to meet its reasonable attempt commitment in this section unless deemed necessary for skills mix by the charge nurse and their Area Leader or their designee.”

Low Census:
Sec. 6.7. Per diems who have exceeded unit requirements will be LC’ed before per diems who haven’t. The new order will be 1) FTEs working overtime, 2) volunteers, 3) local agency personnel (not travelers), 4) per diems working over their unit requirements, 5) FTEs working extra shifts over their FTE (e.g. a .6 picking up an extra shift), 6) per diems, 7) full-time or part-time employees and travelers in accordance with the LC rotation, starting with the nurse that has taken the fewest hours of LC.

Parking:
Sec. 5.5. Nurses with 25 years of service or more can park on campus for the duration of the contract.

Meal/Rest Break Language:
Sec. 7.7. this language has been expanded to more clearly state what a nurse is entitled to under the law.

Discipline/Discharge:
Sec. 5.3. New language asserts that a nurse can have a unit rep in a meeting with management if the nurse believes the meeting may lead to discharge. It clarifies the definition of “just cause,” and that verbal warnings or counselings are not considered disciplinary.

Sabbaticals:
Sec. 13.14. Now, nurses at .6 FTE or above are eligible for sabbaticals (currently, .75 FTE). While nurses are expected to request a sabbatical at least twelve weeks in advance, the request time can now be shorter if by mutual agreement.

Evaluations:
Sec. 5.7. These will now be done annually (a change from “at one year”).

Wage Scale tables can be viewed by clicking the link in the document ribbon above or by using the direct link below:

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Travis Elmore Nelson at telmore@wsna.org.