A Special Thank You:

• Emily Jacoby 2 South RN for providing Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee to our WSNA Negotiating Team.
• Teresa Kindell 2 South RN supporting/coordinating WSNA activities for today.
• Anna Monroe along with her husband and Kate Frazier both 7^th Floor RNs for passing out T-shirts.

Today was Day 5 of our 9 Scheduled Negotiation Days

• We reached a Tentative Agreement regarding “Do not Call” language for nurses that do not want to be called by the hospital during their time off.
• We also agreed to keep the Walters OR MOU regarding nurses hired before Jan. 1, 2015
• Nevertheless, there are still many proposals WSNA gave management, including some from our first day, that management has not responded to yet even though we only have 4 scheduled days left.

Open Invitation to WSNA Unit Reps to Observe Negotiations

All WSNA unit reps are welcome to join the bargaining team and observe negotiations. Unit reps play a critical role facilitating communication. You are the eyes and ears for your unit, sharing concerns with our team. Let us know if you plan to attend: WSNA Nurse Repre­sen­ta­tive Barbara Friesen at bfriesen@wsna.org.

Mark that calendar!
Upcoming negotiating dates:
Tuesday, Oct. 5
Thursday, Oct. 14
Wednesday, Oct. 20
Monday, Oct. 25

Nurses Can’t Be Bought with Food Trucks

On the same day as negotiations, Sept. 30, 2021, management organized a St. Joseph Medical Center Food Truck Rally. The invitation was for all staff to receive a meal on them. The reason? To thank us for all we do for our patients and community. The notice also said “Your safety is our top priority…” Ostensibly, this latter part was related to COVID-19 protocols. But it’s hard to see when our concerns around patient safety and personal safety remain unaddressed.

Many nurses came and enjoyed lunch, sporting WSNA shirts and stickers. That was nice. But no one was fooled. What nurses really need is for management to come to the table with proposals that actually address the issues we have raised during negotiations.

Calling for Your Voice: Speak Up for Safety for SJMC Nurses

We have heard loud and clear it can be just plain scary, especially after dark in parking garages, parking lots, and outside of the hospital. Our WSNA negoti­ating team needs help to show manage­ment how significant an issue personal safety is. Tell CEOs Gary Kaplan and Ketul Patel, and VP of HR Sharon Ryone that they need to act to make sure nurses and staff can get to and from work safely. We need every nurse to raise their voices:

1. Click the button link above.
2. Send a message:
   1. Share your own story with the parking garage OR
   2. Urge management to do the right thing to ensure our colleagues’ ability to safely report to work.

Special shout out to Dian Davis from the Main OR

Many of us have heard her name before. Most likely because of her many years of activism with WSNA but what a lot of us don’t know is where that activism started.

“I initially did not want to become a nurse. Both my grandmother and my mom were nurses. In fact my mom was instrumental in getting my first job in a nursing home. It was a summer job making beds and passing out water for the residents. It was hard work. By the time I was 17 years old I was working as a CNA making $1.75 an hour.

One day, when I started my 3-11 pm shift, I realized that I was the only CNA for all 30 residents on my unit. Normally 3 CNAs were assigned. When the charge nurse came to remind me how many immersion baths were scheduled that afternoon in addition to the normal care I told her ‘I can't do all of that.’ The charge nurse reported my refusal to the DON who then called a meeting to ask how the work was going on the units. When no other CNA mentioned a word I spoke up about the inequitable workloads. After that, each unit had a fair distribution of heavy to light care residents. From that action I learned how raising your voice could change things. When I resigned, I swore I would never ever work in nursing, again.

After getting married and becoming a mother the responsibility for my children made me pause and think, ‘what will I do if anything ever happens to my husband? How will I care for them? What work can I do to support them and make a difference?’ So, I enrolled in nursing school with two small children and when I graduated I had three. When I finished nursing school I knew that I wanted to work in the OR. I had to find and enroll in additional training so that I could apply for an OR position.

When I was asked where I wanted to do my clinical experience for the OR training I chose SJMC. The first 12 years of my career here was excellent. We had the best manager in the area. I never had a reason to look into the WSNA contract except to see what the raise was going to be for the next year. Year 13 brought changes. Out went the Sisters of Francis as leadership and in came the CEO model. The next manager created a serious hostile working environment. She treated staff members horribly. Singling me out, she made my going to work each and every day a traumatic endurance. I began working with our union and through WSNA the contract was enforced. A grievance was filed which went to arbitration. The day before the arbitration, the hospital settled the grievance. Through all of this I learned a powerful lesson. We need clear and binding processes for all nurses.

I am involved with our union because I recognize the value of what it means to our nurses. Not just when it comes to our contract and working conditions, yes, those are very important, but also because WSNA represents Washington State nurses in so many areas and for so many issues local, statewide and on the federal level as needed. We really are fortunate for that representation. The outcome for me would have been very different had there been no contract representation and enforcement. I never want a nurse to go through anything remotely like I did. That’s why I am part of the bargaining team and continue to fight for positive change here at SJMC.

I invite each one of you to join me.” - Dian

Bargaining Team Member Exemplifies Solidarity

Shelly Pollock has been a nurse at St. Joe's since 2004. An ER nurse, she loves the fast-paced work. She also enjoys the collaborative nature of work in her unit. In the ER she knows her colleagues have her back. It's probably why she is enjoying her first time on the WSNA negotiating team.

"I chose to join the bargaining team after being encouraged by my coworkers to get involved with WSNA. I have loved the process so far. When I do have spare time, I really like to cook. Every nurse team member, our WSNA Nurse Rep Barbara Friesen, and our WSNA attorney Pamela Chandran all work very hard at bargaining. Part of how I show my solidarity with my team is by cooking homemade meals for every negotiation session."

Our team and our bargaining unit is lucky to have such a dedicated leader. Thank you Shelly!

In Solidarity Your Negoti­ating Team; Dian Davis, Linda Burbank, Yunna Flenord, Brandon Hardaway, Katy Sargent, Mathew McGuire, Shelly Pollock, Chelsey Roos, Emily D’Anna, Ken Richardson, Sally Budack, Naomi Kincade

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