Earlier this month on Jan. 14 and Jan 21, WSNA Staff and Supervisor bargaining units met with the County again to bargain over the three items of bonus, general wage increase, and two additional holidays.

On January 14 we presented counter-proposals for the additional holidays and the general wage increases and we are waiting for a response from the County on both, as they did not have them this past Friday. We are still in discussions regarding the bonus.

None of these proposals is straightforward. The County is asking that we give up a lot to achieve these gains, and we are bargaining over how that will look. For the bonus, the County wants to decrease the amount each RN will receive by the amount they received in the form of a contract ratification bonus. That bonus was achieved in 2020 and paid early in 2021. They also want us to agree to expanded floating language for CHS, affecting staff RNs and other job classes.

There are still outstanding items that WSNA needs from the County to fully evaluate their proposals. We want you to get what the coalition members are getting, as announced in December 2021. 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.

Understand that the County is 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.

PHSS forum

Saturday, Jan. 29, 10-12

Online via Zoom

Ongoing issues and concerns that will be addressed are:

1. Erosion of nursing and nurse supervisor/manager roles within PHSKC
2. Chronic out-of-class work
3. Lack of policy, procedure and/or orientation support/resources
4. Other (you decide)

What we need from you is that you come prepared to speak to your issue, and to be able to do so in a concise manner, so that everyone gets a chance to be heard. Examples of what we need from you:

1. Stories that illustrate gaps in nursing leadership or structure
2. Stories from your staff nurses/PHNs
3. Literature supporting best practices for nursing structure
4. Literature supporting nurse outcomes in public health
5. Impacts to teams when non-nurses supervise nurses
6. Your vision of optimal nursing structure in public health

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89704319196?pwd=enFTT05INWJ0d0JkamZrNmlQMGpRdz09

Meeting ID: 897 0431 9196

Passcode: 366001

One tap mobile

+12532158782,,89704319196#,,,,*366001#

If you are unable to attend we still want to hear from you. There are two ways to go about that. Tell us your concerns and ideas via Survey Monkey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8369P59

Or contact WSNA grievance officer Amy Curtis to schedule a time to talk, a.m.curtis22@gmail.com

Your WSNA Officers,

Nicole Klein, Sean Dumas, Louise Peterson, Amy Curtis

Questions or comments? Find your WSNA union officers and nurse rep contact info via this link:

https://www.wsna.org/union/seattle-king-county-health-dept-supervisors

Or email your WSNA Nurse Rep Sydne James, sjames@wsna.org