WSNA is aware of King County’s recent announcement of the coalition labor agreement (CLA) containing bonuses, two additional holidays, and general wage increases. When we learned of this, we immediately asked the county to bargain with us over these same items. The County is under no obligation to do so, but they did agree to hear our proposals over these three issues. Officers from the WSNA staff and supervisor bargaining units along with their respective nurse representatives met with the King County office of Labor Relations on Dec. 17 and again on Dec. 27.

We are close to an agreement for a Nurse Recognition Bonus that mirrors that of the CLA. Understand that the CLA union members are not receiving the bonus in January. This bonus will only be paid after the separate labor agreements are ratified, and after the King County Council members approve their contracts. This will be a few months from now at the earliest. If we reach agreement for a bonus for nurses, that would be paid around the same time that the coalition of unions are scheduled to receive their bonuses.

On Dec. 27, we received a proposal to add two additional holidays – Juneteenth on June 19, and Indigenous Peoples Day, the second Monday in October. They also passed us a proposal for a general wage increases for nurses of 1.5%, which would be effective upon ratification of the agreement and in addition to the 2% wage increase on Jan. 1, 2022. Neither of these proposals is straight forward. The county has attached a number of unfavorable and completely unrelated items to each of these proposals. We want you to get what the coalition members are getting, as announced earlier this month. We are committed to the difficult work of bargaining with the County to achieve these gains and give up the least that we can to achieve this.

You might wonder why we must bargain for these items. Why didn’t the County just give us what they agreed to with the coalition of unions? This is because they do not have to. They are not required to give the nurses what the other unions achieved, nor are they required to meet with us now, mid-contract, to discuss. We are pleased that the County has done so and believe that they understand the value you bring to public health. We do not yet have a date for our next bargaining session but will keep you updated as we get more information.

We have continued to advocate for your safety and security with parking. Goat Hill and King Street parking garage reimbursement has been extended, again, until Feb. 28, 2022.

Your WSNA Staff and supervisor bargaining team,

Tami Nesler, Grievance Officer, staff
Tyler Breier, Chair, staff
Nicole Klein, Co-Chair, supervisors
Louise Peterson, Secretary/Treasurer, supervisors
Michelle Moore, WSNA nurse rep, staff
Sydne James, WSNA nurse rep, supervisors

Questions or comments? Find your bargaining team contact info via these links:

For staff RNs: https://www.wsna.org/union/seattle-king-county-health-dept-staff
For supervisor RNs: https://www.wsna.org/union/seattle-king-county-health-dept-supervisors