Thank you ALL for your engagement and ongoing support of the Save Public Health Campaign. As you know, this Campaign was initiated in an effort to prevent the closure of 10 Public Health Clinics that provide vital services to the community. As a Coalition partner, WSNA has worked closely with Labor and Community leaders to:

• Advocate for funding options to keep the clinics open
• Prioritize essential services for vulnerable populations
• Continue to provide the high-level quality of care to community members
• Retain the valuable and skilled workforce

The good news is that it appears that the County is working to assure that the Public Health Clinics will remain open and services will not be disrupted!

In January, the Employer (County) sent out a communication regarding ‘the potential transition of services’ and disclosed that part of that plan was to ‘ask community partners if they could expand services in areas where CHS may need to reduce’. A Request for Information (RFI) was issued to the community and there were a number of responses.

WSNA is aware that King County Executive Dow Constantine has opted to move forward with the ‘Harborview Medical Center Option’, which was made possible due to HB 2348 passed by the Washington State Legislature this past legislative session. The Executive is currently drafting a proposal for how the new arrangement will be presented to the King County Council in September. September is when the Council is to begin discussing their 2025 fiscal budget which begins January 1, 2025. This proposal and all supporting details will need to be solidified in that timeframe.

Earlier this month, Public Health Director Dr. Faisal Khan held a virtual meeting to provide employees information about this option and next steps. He represented this option as a viable means to fund the clinics, maintain services and avoid disruption to staff and patients. Below you will find a few pertinent highlights from that meeting. We anticipate additional details as the plan progresses.

• The “Harborview Medical Center option” has been selected
• Currently no reductions in force (no layoffs or furloughs) anticipated in 2025
• No operational changes anticipated at this time in terms of the Public Health employee experience
• Currently anticipating a 3-4 month negotiation period of an affiliation agreement
• No operational changes anticipated at this time in terms of the Public Health Employee experience

You can access the link directly via the King County SharePoint

‘Special Edition of Coffee & Conversation with Dr. Faisal Khan’

You are all invited to attend the monthly Save Public Health Coalition meeting to get up to date information. This meeting is virtual for your convenience. WSNA will continue to share meeting details (date/time/link) as we receive them. Building and increasing solidarity with our Public Health peers at the County is more important than ever during this time.

You may visit the Save Seattle-King County Public Health Website at https://savepublichealth.org/.

Bargaining Starts with our first scheduled date on June 12

Your membership, solidarity and engagement are key to WSNA victories! In order to negotiate from a position of strength we need an active and engaged membership. Make no mistake, the collective actions taken in 2022 and 2023 were instrumental in the last contract negotiations. Contact your Local Unit Officers or Nurse Rep to learn how you can be an active in the process, and/or how to become a member today.

Per the contract, the Longevity Steps Working Committee tasks have been completed and will be used to inform bargaining (See below)

Addendum G 

Longevity Steps - Working Committee: During the life of the CBA the parties will convene to study this issue for the purpose of trying to align the Employer’s wage schedule with industry standard steps. The result of this work is intended to become the foundation for the parties’ next contract negotiations.

Call to Action

1. Stay tuned, read all WSNA communications and status updates from the Employer
2. Watch for important updates on how to support your bargaining team and fight for a fair contract
3. Participate in Site Rep Training to connect your work site with your bargaining team. Email Nurse Rep Tara Barnes to learn more tbarnes@wsna.org
4. Follow on Instagram@phskc_staffnurses

Free Webinar - Save the Date

Free webinar open to all WSNA Members (1.5 contact hours)

Webinar: Workplace Violence Reporting

When: June 12, 2024, 11:30 am – 1 pm

https://www.wsna.org/calendar/webinar-workplace-violence-reporting

Note: Even if you can’t attend the webinar live, a recording of the event and CNE will be available to registrants for 30 days after the live event. 

In Solidarity,

Your WSNA local unit officers:
Tyler Breier, Chair, Childcare program - breierta@gmail.com, Tina Lajoie, Vice Chair, NFP Downtown - tina.lajoie.18@gmail.com, Elena Schensted, Secretary/Treasurer, NFP Columbia - elenaschensted@yahoo.com, Carolyn Clark, Grievance Officer, KCCF - crclark333@gmail.com, Tami Nesler, Grievance Officer, KCCF - tami.nesler@hotmail.com

and Nurse Representative Tara Barnes tbarnes@wsna.org