On April 23, we went back to the bargaining table. This was our first bargaining session with a federal mediator. As we said in some of our previous bargaining updates and last night at our sip-and-chat, in mediation both the Nurses and PeaceHealth agree to limit what we will say publicly as part of the agreement with the federal mediator. That confidentiality helps the parties make more open-ended proposals and brainstorm solutions collaboratively over the course of mediation. However,  It has come to our attention that PeaceHealth may have taken actions that violate our shared confidentiality agreement by sending details of our first mediation session to the bargaining unit via email yesterday evening. We notified the federal mediator of that violation this morning.

We want you to know that we take our agreement with the federal mediator seriously and will comply with the established rules. In the interest of clarifying or correcting some of management’s assertions in its email, we can share that we spent much of the day getting the mediator up to speed and listened to “what-if” proposals from management, which parties often use during mediation to suggest potential paths to agreement on complicated issues. We have not responded directly to those proposals yet, but we’ll continue reviewing them over the coming weeks as we draft creative solutions of our own to propose when we meet for our next session. We plan to make a comprehensive response when we meet again on May 13.

In the meantime, WSNA has filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because we believe that PeaceHealth has violated federal labor laws by failing to bargain in good faith and interfering with your exercise of protected rights over the course of our negotiations since January. The NLRB is the federal agency charged with ensuring that both unions and employers follow laws related to workers’ protected concerted activity and bargaining rights. While we delayed filing ULP charges to give management the benefit of the doubt over the past several weeks in hopes of reaching a deal, our priority is protecting your rights.

Our next mediation session is on May 13. We are encouraging WSNA members to come and observe – however, you must be willing to abide by all rules related to mediation, so please do not share what happens in our session outside the room! To observe the mediation session on May 13, 2024, email sscholl@wsna.org to RSVP.

Join us on Instagram for the latest from your bargaining team … https://www.instagram.com/phsw_nurses?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==.

In solidarity,

Your Bargaining Team
WSNA Co-Chair Didi Gray, Family Birth; WSNA Co-Chair Dawn Marick, Resource team; Secretary/Treasurer Duncan Camacho, ICU; Grievance Officer Erin Irwin, CVICU; Member at Large Talitha Wilson, ED; Dillon LeSieur, RRT/Critical Care; Dustin Weddle, ED; Jeryl Anderson, Case Management; Brooke Churchman, Home Hospice; Samantha Golden, IMCU; Joan Ngarachu, PACU; Toutu Rekucki, Cardiology

 Please contact WSNA Nurse Rep Travis Elmore Nelson at telmore@wsna.org or 206-575-7979 ext. 3117 with questions or to find out what you can do to get a fair contract