We reached a tentative agreement with the county on an interim one-year agreement. The parties had been negotiating for several months when the COVID-19 crisis began. While we had tentative agreements on a number of issues, we were far from finished. Because the pandemic presented too great of an obstacle for successful negotiations, WSNA and King County agreed to capture the existing tentative agreements into a memo that would serve as the starting point for negotiations on a full successor agreement. The parties then agreed to an interim contract that contains only those changes that were essential for the next year. Those changes include:

• Across the board wage increase of 1.5%, retroactively effective to 1/1/2020; and 1.5%, retroactively effective to 7/1/2020.
• Clean-up of membership language as required by the Janus decision.
• Updated public records language.
• Updates to benefits and insurance language and dates.
• New timeline for posting of jail nurse schedules.
• Expiration date of 12/31/2020.

As in years past, the county’s ratification process is cumbersome. After both parties sign the contract, it goes to the King County Executive’s office, then to the King County Council, then back to the Executive’s office for signature. Ten days later, it becomes ordinance. At that point, Payroll starts processing your raises and retroactive payments. Because the process is so lengthy, we have elected to post the unsigned copy of the contract to use as a reference in the meantime.

In unity,
Paul Kunkel, Chair; Jane Storrs, Secretary; Yolanda Morris, Treasurer; Tami Nesler, Grievance Officer; Carolyn Clark, Grievance Officer; and Melissa Fukunaga, Negotiating Team Member

For questions, contact Hanna Welander, WSNA Nurse Rep
(206) 575-7979, Ext. 3035 or hwelander@wsna.org