We did reach a tentative agreement that allows a nurse that files an ADO to take another nurse from their department with them when the manager meets with them to talk about the ADO and the meeting will be during both nurses working time.

Unfortunately, we received another extremely disappointing economic proposal from management, which was 3% effective the first pay period after ratification if we ratify the contract by Nov. 1, 2021, otherwise it will be the second full pay period and 2% & 2% the full pay period Nov. 1, 2022 and Nov. 1, 2023, respectively. Again, telling our team the WSNA wage proposals are completely unrealistic.

WSNA advisory action: Tell management No - Do More, Do Better!

At the end of negotiations today, it is clear that management still needs to make significantly more progress at the table despite our team saying what they presented wasn’t good enough.

Raise your voice - help our team say it louder. Tell management what they can do with their current proposal – do more and do better for the nurses and our community. Take a moment Monday to stop by, check in with our team members, and cast an advisory ballot sending a message that their proposals are not nearly good enough. Nurses and our patients deserve better.

People’s Community Center

(Across from the hospital on MLK Jr. Way, in the same lot as the Miles Memorial Church, where there is some parking)

1602 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Tacoma, WA 98405

Monday 10/18/21 – Stop in during any of the polling sessions:

7:30-9:00a Madrona Room

10:30-4:30p Multi-purpose Room

6-8:00p Multi-purpose Room

*Snacks and WSNA personal alarms will be provided

800 voices urge management to take responsibility for retaining nurses in our community

During negotiations today, a team of WSNA Unit Reps delivered the signatures of 800 RNs on our petition to management at 1pm.

Our negotiating team has been disappointed with the lack of movement by management to address key concerns around RN retention at our hospital: safe staffing, competitive wages, fair treatment of new grads, and personal safety. Despite repeatedly bringing these concerns to the table, management has not done enough to address the issues.

So nurses banded together to demonstrate their support for the team. In addition to 800 nurses, many other staff signed onto the WSNA petition demanding that management act to help keep nurses at St. Joe’s. Thank you to all the nurses who helped collect signatures on this important action.

A special thank you to WSNA Unit Reps Peggy Novotny, Abigail Garrison, Teresa Kindell, Nathaniel Sichter and activist Adriana Tashjian for stepping up and delivering our message on behalf of nurses throughout the hospital.

Thank you Unit Rep Peggy Novotny

Our negotiating team wants to do a special shout out to Peggy Novotny. Today Peggy started our day by bringing us snacks and drinks. She then sat in and observed our negotiation meetings with management, which is an option for any WSNA Unit Rep. In addition, she went with the delegation of nurses that delivered the petitions noted above. Thank you Peggy.

WSNA wins on skybridge opening, Management stalls on other safety proposals

For months, nurses have been telling management about the persistent safety issues around the hospital. These included the unsafe parking situation, the closure of the Skybridge for night shift, and the lack of security in parking garages.

After nurses stepped up and told their stories to management, the MOB Skybridge will now be open from 0500-1930, and the South Skybridge will be open 24/7. Thank you to everyone who emailed the CEOs, shared their stories with management, and spoke up about our right to a safe environment.

Despite this victory, management is still stalling on our other safety proposals - giving access to the secured underground parking garage for staff who are on call at night or have shift change between 2300 and 0700, and providing security in the parking garage 24/7. When we stand together and speak up, change happens!

Yunna's got this

When Yunna Flenord sports her “I Got This” T-shirt, there’s little doubt that she does. She is well respected by her colleagues in our ICU.

Yunna was inspired to become a nurse very early on in life. When she was 5, she was very ill and hospitalized. While many people had given up hope, she remembered that the nurses never did, saving her life. She remembers hearing them encouraging her to not give up and telling her mom to fight for her. When Yunna recovered, she recognized that those nurses are why she survived. She said to herself “that’s what I want to do when I grow up.”

She went to nursing school in central Alabama, working while earning her nursing degree. Her love of Tacoma struck when she was 10, when her family stopped here on the way to Germany as part of her family’s military travel. So 5 years ago she and her adventurous 10 year old daughter Aarti (also known as Yunna’s mini me) moved here and Yunna began working here. She loves her unit because she sees her work really make a difference in people’s lives. When patients come in for open heart surgery, they are so weak and vulnerable. Yunna gets to care for them and see them get well, later running into them at the grocery store well and living life again. It is so satisfying to help people really get better.

Yunna has the following message to share with the rest of us: “This is my first time on the negotiating team. I figured, if I’m going to run my mouth about what I see happening, I’m going to do something about it.

Our hospital would be a better place if each nurse joined me in doing the same. We need to speak up if we want our hospital to show RNs appreciation by making this a safe work environment and pay us a competitive wage to give us a reason to stay. Don’t give up and have faith. When we work and stick together, we can lift each other’s spirits up.”

In Solidarity,
your negoti­ating team: Dian Davis, Linda Burbank, Yunna Flenord, Brandon Hardaway, Katy Heffernan, Matthew 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.