This week, WSNA staff and supervisor bargaining units voted on an MOU regarding the County's offer of a "recognition bonus." We want to fill you all in on the history and details of what went down, it’s a longer read but we feel it is essential to know what happened.

The MOU for a “recognition bonus” was taken to a vote. We had two full days of voting at three different locations. The results:

• The staff bargaining unit voted YES by a majority, approving the bonus MOU. This MOU will move forward to be signed.
• The supervisor bargaining unit had a majority of NO votes, rejecting the bonus MOU. This MOU will not move forward but will be addressed again in contract negotiations.

Based on all the feedback in our local unit meetings and voting sites, we returned to the employer one last time. We warned the employer how negatively this entire process and offer were perceived. We gave the County one more opportunity to see if they would pay all nurses the "appreciation bonus" without deducting any past and unrelated amounts.

What does this mean moving forward?

We heard loud and clear from BOTH staff and supervisors that this was a difficult decision, and regardless of how your fellow nurses voted, they were not pleased with the County. This MOU signaled that the employer does not respect or value their nursing staff.

Your officers are preparing for contract negotiations, which will begin soon with a survey that will come to you that is vital in guiding our bargaining efforts. Be on the lookout in your email for a negotiation survey in the next couple of weeks. This will be followed by unit meetings to discuss the findings from the survey. The tactics the employer used over the past seven months are the same they will use moving forward. We need EVERY SINGLE NURSE to show up in solidarity, prepared for collective action.

Please save the date:

We will have a joint staff-supervisor event on September 10.

In solidarity,

Your Staff and Supervisor Officers

Staff Tyler Breier, Chair; Tami Nesler and Carolyn Clark, Grievance Officer

Supervisors Sean Dumas and Nicole Klein, Co-Chair; Louise Peterson, Secretary/Treasurer

We are union strong! We will not be bullied and will fight for the respect we deserve from our employer. For questions and concerns reach out to your local unit officers or to staff Nurse Representatives Michelle Moore at mmoore@wsna.org or supervisors Nurse Representative Bret Percival at bpercival@wsna.org.