Congratulations to all of us! We have made remarkable strides in wages, equitable advancement on the wage scale, a fair vacation scheduling procedure, and getting rid of usurious residency agreements in this contract. The ratification vote will be on Monday, August 12 the San Juan Conference Room on the main floor from 0600-0830, from 1100-1300, and from 1700-2000. After the last voting block closes, we’ll have the vote count and all nurses in good standing are welcome to participate or observe. You must be a member in good standing to vote (meaning, you’re a dues-paying member; we’ll have membership applications available at ratification for anyone who hasn’t had an opportunity to sign up). Bargaining team members, your nurse rep, and attorney-negotiator will be present to answer questions.

Here are highlights of the Tentative Agreement; a more comprehensive summary will come out in the next few days. Full red-lined (marked-up) copies of the changes between the old and newly negotiated contract will be available at ratification for members to review. Assuming our ratification vote passes, the SRH Board of Commissioners will vote to ratify the Tentative Agreement on Wednesday, August 14. We fully anticipate that the Commissioners will ratify the Tentative Agreement if we do.

• Wage Scale
  • Effective the second full pay period after both the Union and the Commissioners ratify (that is, starting Monday, September 2 – Labor Day), all nurses will receive a 9% +$1.50 raise. This translates to first year increases ranging from 11.6%-13.5%!
  • Additionally, we have filled in all ghost steps – going forward, everyone will get a raise on their anniversary until they max out on the scale. (“Anniversary” means the most recent anniversary of when the nurse was hired into the bargaining unit.)
  • Year 2 raise of 3.75% effective the first full pay period after June 1, 2025 – 9 months after the first-year raise.
  • Year 3 raise of 3.75% effective the first full pay period after June 1, 2026.
  • The new wage scale is attached at the end of this Summary.
• Ratification Bonus. 
  • $1,000 for all full-time nurses (0.9 FTE and higher count as full-time for the purposes of the ratification bonus), prorated by FTE, with per diems counting as 0.2 FTE.
  • The ratification bonus will be paid on September 2, 2024.
• Premiums and Differentials.
  • Work in Advance of Shift. Language added to clarify that all hours worked before the shift at the request of the Employer will be paid at 1.5x regardless of how many hours the nurse worked during the shift (to avoid situations where a nurse would come in early at the Employer’s request and then be sent home early so as not to incur overtime).
  • Standby Pay. Clarified that, if a nurse is assigned on-call immediately before or after a regular shift and is held over/continues to work into their regular shift due to being called-in, the nurse will be paid at the call back rate, will continue to receive $4.00/hr stand-by, and will have a minimum three hours of call back pay, provided that the nurse works at least one hour of call immediately proceeding or following their regularly scheduled shift.
  • Charge Nurse Pay. Increases to $3.00/hr (from $2.50).
  • Night Shift Differential. Increases to $5.50/hr (from $4.75).
  • Certifications/BSN/MSN Premiums. Certifications will increase to $1.25/hr (up from $1.00), MSN/MNs increase to $3.00/hr (up from $2.25).
  • Rest Between Shifts. Language added so that a nurse who doesn’t receive unbroken rest of at least 10 hours (unless mutually agreed between the nurse and their manager) between shifts can use annual leave to supplement unworked scheduled hours, or can opt to be voluntarily LC’ed to fill in for any unworked scheduled hours resulting from at least 10 hours of unbroken rest.
  • NEW Bonus Shifts. The Employer can declare a shift or shifts as “Bonus Shifts.” Regular nurses or per diem nurses scheduled to work at least two (2) shifts in the same pay period as the “Bonus Shift” who agree to work such shifts will be paid time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked on the “Bonus Shift.” The Employer may determine that it will offer double time to nurses picking up a “Bonus Shift” who are already eligible for time and one-half on that shift. A summary of the bonus shifts that have been worked will be reported by the Employer at Nurse Conference Committee.
  • Float Pool. Float pool nurses will receive $3.00/hr (up from $2.00); specialty float pool nurses will receive $5.00/hr (up from $4.00).
• Residency Agreements that hold nurses to repayment for “training” if they leave are null and void.
• Adjustments to Nurses’ Placement on the Wage Scale
  • Currently in the contract, a nurse advances on the wage scale based on the number of hours they work (specifically, a nurse only advances on the wage scale once they have worked the equivalent of a 0.8 FTE). As of the first full pay period after January 1, 2025, all nurses will progress on the wage scale on the most recent anniversary of when the nurse was hired into the bargaining unit, regardless of the number of hours worked.
  • Effective the first full pay period after January 1, 2025, any nurse who is below the appropriate step based their full years as a bargaining unit RN at SRH will be moved to the proper step on the wage scale as of that date. After that, those nurses will next receive a step increase on the most recent anniversary of when the nurse was hired into bargaining unit.
  • All nurses who should receive a step increase before the first full pay period after January 1, 2025 because of hours earned or their anniversary will receive that step increase.
  • Any disagreements about where the nurse should fall on the scale can be grieved.
• Changes to Annual Leave Scheduling. Two open periods for bidding on vacations.
  • For 2024 bidding on 2025 vacations only:
    • Round 1 - During September 2024: nurses will bid on vacations in 2025, vacation will be approved on a seniority basis. Notice of approval/denial will be communicated in writing no later than October 31 and posted to the unit’s annual leave calendar on November 1.
      • During Round 1, nurses with less than 15 or more years (the time since the nurse’s most recent hire date as a FTE bargaining unit nurse) can receive no more than the hours equivalent to the nurse’s FTE over two weeks. Nurses with 15 or more years may request up to the hours equivalent to their FTE over three weeks, provided they’ll have the time by the vacation date.
    • Round 2 – After September 30, 2024: nurses will submit all requests in writing, which will be granted on a first-come first-served basis. Nurses will be notified in writing of approval/denial by November 30. If the manager does not respond within 30 days, the request will be considered approved. Nurses may request much time as they will have accrued by the vacation date.
  • For bidding in 2025 and beyond:
    • Round 1 bidding will occur during August with notice provided by September 30.
    • Round 2 bidding will begin after August 31, with notice of approval/denial no earlier than October 31, and then within 30 days of the request or the request will be considered approved.
  • Nurses can cancel vacation up to the 10^th of the month preceding the month when their vacation was scheduled. Once posted, a nurse’s vacation can be canceled with manager’s approval only. If a nurse cancels their vacation, nurses can then request such newly-available days on a first-come, first served basis.
  • All 2025 and later vacations currently approved are unaffected.
  • If a nurse is within 12 hours of the max annual accrual and is denied a vacation request, that nurse can cash out the hours they had requested and were denied up to their FTE in one week. This is in addition to the annual 80-hour cash-out.
  • 2024 vacation requests made up until December 31, 2024 will be granted on a first come/first served basis.
• Duration. The Contract would expire at midnight on May 31, 2027.
• Donations to the Bargaining Team – Nurses can donate vacation hours to the bargaining team to help defray the unpaid time of 14 bargaining sessions (of longer than 8 hours nearly every time), not to mention the many hours of prep and missed work (and family!) time away from the table. SRH will match up to 266 donated hours that bargaining unit nurses donate to the bargaining team. Bargaining a contract on behalf of your coworkers is not an easy task; please consider donating some annual leave hours to the five bargaining team members. You can do that by printing and filling out this form and giving it to Nurse Rep Sue Dunlap or any of the bargaining team members (you can also bring it to ratification). We will also have annual leave donation forms at the ratification vote.

In solidarity,
Liz Rainaud, FBC  and WSNA local unit chair
Rachel Yates, Family Medicine and WSNA local unit treasurer
Kim McCann, FBC  and WSNA local unit membership officer
Kyla Malean , OR  and Negotiating team member
Lacey Bernick, PERI OP  and Negotiating team member

Questions or comments, contact WSNA Organizer: 
Crystal Doll   CDoll@wsna.org or at 206 334-8388,

or Nurse Representative: Sue Dunlap SDunlap@wsna.org,
or any of your bargaining team members.