We met for session number seven of negotiations with leadership on Friday April 26, 2019. This was a lengthy day of hard work. We welcomed observers this session and appreciate their support and input.

During most of the morning, we had an in-depth presentation and discussion on short term disability and the new Washington State Family Medical Leave law, which affects all of us. Leadership had a presentation on how short-term disability would compare to our current EIB (Extended Illness Bank). Unfortunately, this did not satisfy a lot of questions your team had about eligibility, benefit access and plan utilization. The EIB coverage we have demonstrated broader applicability then what we saw with short term disability.

Both sides submitted counter proposals today which we are in the process of reviewing and evaluating. Additionally, we spent a great deal of time working on the various call issues for those departments that have call.

We had some extensive engagement with management on per diem nurses. Your team strongly and persuasively presented our viewpoints and stance on this issue. We value our per diem nurses greatly and feel they supply a significant resource in hospital staffing. Our team is very committed to supporting our per diem nurses and anticipate reiterating our stance on this issue in the coming session.

We welcome your support and feedback. Please consider attending one of the next sessions as you can and as always contact your team for any questions.
We are scheduled at this time for negotiations May 13 and May 17 starting at approximately 8:30 a.m. and currently all sessions have been held at the HEC.

In solidarity!

Your negotiation team:
Sarah Newell RN – Chair
Geri Falacy, RN – Secretary
Michelle Leidal, RN – Treasurer
Rhonda Tull, RN – Grievance Officer
Susannah Ribeiro, RN – Communication Officer
Laura Bayes, RN – Membership Coordinator
Arlene Copps, RN – Membership coordinator
Tracy Pullar, RNC - Safety Officer

Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Representative Sue Dunlap at sdunlap@wsna.org or (206) 575-7979, ext. 3005.