February 15, 2023 bargaining session Update – After 10 sessions, the County finally came to the table with its economic counter-proposal. We are very far apart, especially if the County wants to continue to retain and recruit nurses. The County said at the outset of negotiations that “recruitment and retention” were its top priorities. We continue to present up-to-date comparative wage data that shows how far behind the market the County has fallen. We even analyzed some of the comparators the County identified and it still showed a dramatic lag in County wages.

Our opening economic proposal was multi-pronged and aimed at retaining our current (amazing) nurses and improving the County’s ability to recruit new nurses. The failure to hire new nurses has led to ongoing increased and excessive use of agency nurses—at enormous expense. A full-time agency nurse costs approximately $100,000 per year more than an FTE career service RN (even with benefits!).

• We proposed to eliminate the RN classification and transition all RNs to the Public Health Nurse (PHN) Classification for purposes of the base wage rate. The County rejected the proposal even though it agreed with the principle that all are doing public health work.
• We proposed general wage increase:
  • 14% effective Jan 1,2023 The County proposed 4%
  • 6% effective Jan 1, 2024 The County proposed 4%
• We proposed to extensively expand the longevity steps since the nurses with 10 or more years of experience are falling drastically behind the market average. The County rejected the proposal outright
• We proposed paid parking downtown. County rejected

Despite the disappointment and frustration at the County’s proposal, we were able to TA one item. The County agreed to Section 15.4 Non-JHS Staff Alternative Work Week Schedules. When a holiday falls on an employee’s regularly scheduled day off, employees can now schedule this one work day before the holiday.

Now is the time to take action!

The County needs to hear from us. In order to drive these negotiations and force the County to invest resources in public health, the County needs to hear us and see us. Now is the time to step up!

• Take the survey (https://forms.office.com/r/WRpTwEaRCQ)
• WSNA officers and Nurse Rep. will be at All PHN meetings on Tuesday, February 21st, please come in person.
  • Sign petition
  • Get WSNA T-shirt
  • Take pictures with “We took care of you. You take care of us” or “Benefits doesn’t pay the bills.” Signs
• WSNA officers will be at the end of the RN training, with a quick update.
• Now is the time to get involved. There are sites that don’t yet have WSNA site reps. Please reach out to Michelle Moore at mmoore@wsna.org if you would like to be your site WSNA rep.
• We will be setting up more times to have you sign the petition and hand out your WSNA shirts for you to wear in support of the bargaining team. More information on this coming soon.