We are the next in line after VM to negotiate a WSNA contract with CommonSpirit, which is just over a year away. What happens at VM will affect us. They have the same issues we have. Safety, Staffing, Breaks, and wages. We all have to support each other if we expect to succeed in our goals to make our hospitals a safe place with a healthy work environment that will make nurses want to stay. Together we have nearly 2000 nurses. That is a lot of power if we stand together and support each other.

Let’s all let VMFH administrators know we demand to be safe both inside and outside of our hospitals. Admin are safe and secure behind locked doors and well compensated. We deserve to be safe too! We also deserve staffing that will ensure safe patient care as well as compensation that will attract and retain nurses. Our negotiating team has told this to management over and over for 14 sessions.

CommonSpirit boasts of Humankindness. We are not seeing it!

Please join the Virginia Mason nurses telling management to Do More, Do Better!

Informational Picket on October 10, 2023
6 – 8:30 a.m.
and
noon. – 2 p.m.
Outside the hospital on Seneca St. Look for the WSNA Blue!

Bring the nurses you work with, bring your family, bring your neighbor, bring your kids, bring your dog, and bring your *voice*. Let management know they have to Do More and Do Better.

Informational Picketing FAQs

What’s an informational picket? Nurses walk, carry picket signs, and hand out leaflets on the public sidewalk in front of the hospital, in an effort to share our message of concern with the community.
Is it similar to a strike? No. Staff scheduled to work should go to work. Patients scheduled for care should go and get their care. The specific purpose of the action is to communicate the issues we have at the table with the public.

Is it legal? Yes. It’s not just legal, it’s our right as union members!

Who can picket? Everyone. By everyone, we mean EVERYONE: you (all RNs, full-time, part-time, per diem, residents, probationary nurses), your family, your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues and your pets!

Why involve the community? We serve and advocate on behalf of our community every day. The issues we are dealing with directly impact them. They not only need to hear but will understand and support why we are concerned about the lack of staffing, our inability to recruit and retain nurses.

Can I get in trouble if my manager doesn’t like it? No. It is illegal for managers to question or discipline any nurse for talking about or participating in an info picket. The National Labor Relations Act specifically protects participation in this type of union activity – even if you’re on probation or a resident nurse!

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Barbara Friesen at bfriesen@wsna.org.