Requesting reasonable accommodation: Your right to representation

If you need to request reasonable accommodation for medical or religious reasons, you have the right to union representation.

1. Send written communication that you want to schedule an interactive meeting to discuss your accommodation.
2. Contact one of the WSNA Officers or the Nurse Representative to attend the meeting with you.
3. If your employer has stated that they are accommodating you but this no longer works for you, you can submit another written request. State that you would like to continue to discuss other accommodation options.
4. If you receive a phone call from your manager or Human Resources, you have the right to request that they document what they are telling you verbally. If they refuse, you may email your manager and restate what you were told over the phone. Ask that they verify that the information is mutually understood.
5. Your employer is required by law to meet with you if you have asked for a meeting regarding your requested medical or religious accommodation. If an employer were to refuse, you may submit a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Washington state Human Rights Commission. For more information
   1. Human Rights Commission: https://www.hum.wa.gov/file-complaint
   2. EEOC (Seattle): https://www.eeoc.gov/field-office/seattle/location
      
      

Update on Unfair Labor Practice complaint

WSNA continues to wait for the NLRB to respond to the complaint we submitted in August for injunctive relief against taking nurses off the schedule. A grievance has been filed on behalf of all affected nurses.

Congratulations to Cancer Center nurses

PeaceHealth St. Joseph wished to show their nurses how much they valued their service because Whatcom County is gaining new Oncology services and need the nurses to stay. They proposed offering a retention bonus prorated by FTE, with a maximum amount of $12,500. The bonuses will be paid at 3 months, 9 months, and 15 months, after nurses submit their agreement and so long as the RN is still employed in the Cancer Center.

The WSNA officers strongly believe that all nurses deserve a retention bonus for working their hardest. We agreed that the Cancer Center nurses deserve to be shown that we want them to stay to continue to provide excellent care to their patients.

Sticker up!
Together with UFCW 21, SEIU 1199NW, WSNA will be distributing stickers to all the Unit Reps. The stickers say “Value Us—Retention Bonuses Now,” and “Safe Staffing Now.” Look for those to be handed out and let’s all sticker up.

For additional questions, please contact WSNA Nurse Representative Hanna Welander at hwelander@wsna.org.