Today is the final day to vote on our contract – the bargaining team went to the mat, brought home the highest wages in Pierce County (and the highest wages for senior nurses in the state!), break nurses, Baylor shifts, weapons detectors and tons more! It also hasn’t been said enough – we won a contract with no take-aways.

If you need assistance with on-line voting or have questions about the TA or the red-lined draft contract, bargaining team members and WSNA staff will be in Conference Room G on 12/19 from 0800-1200 and 1400-2000 to assist – you’ll be able to complete your on-line ballot there. You can also donate PTO to the bargaining team either by dropping off this form, or emailing it to sjmc@wsna.org (or give it to your friendly, exhausted bargaining team member.)

We will release the results of the vote immediately after the vote closes at 2000 on 12/19.

Let’s talk about ratios

We knew when we proposed ratios at the table that we likely were not going to get them. Tacoma General is the only contract in Washington State that has ratios. The TG nurses got those ratios years ago only as an exchange for giving up a pension. You may know that California and Oregon both have ratios embedded in their state laws. And though WSNA has fought hard for those ratios in Olympia, we are up against – and hugely out-spent – by the Washington State Hospital Association (“WSHA”), which is the lobbying group for Washington hospitals. Currently, Ketul Patel, the CEO of VMFH, is the WSHA chairperson, and we went into bargaining understanding that, while there was a close to zero per cent chance of winning ratios, we were going to make our stand.

We need to keep up our fight at every bargaining table at every hospital for ratios so that each employer understands that nurses will relentlessly pursue safer staffing. We also need to push hard on the legislature to prioritize patient care and nurse retention/health/sanity and an ability to provide the care that *we know* each patient deserves by voting ratios into law.

How do we do this? By getting involved. We also won PAC language in our contract, which allows SJMC nurses to donate to WSNA’s Political Action Committee directly from your paycheck so that we can continue to push Olympia to do the right thing (dues money is not used to support WSNA’s legislative work – that’s why a separate PAC contribution is so important). You can find the PAC form on our local unit web page.

Another way to get involved is to show up! Sign up to attend WSNA Nurse Lobby Day and make sure your voice is heard in Olympia on February 4.

Our fight continues

We won things in this contract that we weren’t able to get three years ago (we kept a list!), and we plan on winning things in 2027 that we couldn’t get this time. WSNA St. Joe’s nurses will not stop. We are stronger when we are together, and we are stronger when more of us are engaged. Keep an eye out for information on SJMC officer elections. In the meantime,  if you’d like to get more involved with our union so we can continue to hold management accountable and make sure our new contract is enforced, sign up to be notified of 2025 Unit Rep trainings here.

In solidarity,
Your WSNA Officers and Negotiating Team
Emily Nollmeyer, local unit Co-Chair, Labor and Delivery, day shift
Carina Price, local unit Co-Chair, ICU, night shift
Matthew McGuire, Treasurer/Grievance officer, ED, day shift
Shelly Mead, Grievance officer, ED, day shift
Yunna Flenord, Grievance officer, ICU, night shift
Teresa Kindell, Membership Coordinator, 2S, day shift
Shannon Suchland, Secretary, Walter's OR, day shift
Sally Budack, Co-Secretary, SADU, day shift
Jessica Lenczycki, negotiating team member, Labor and Delivery, night shift
Kate Frazier, negotiating team member, 7^th floor, night shift
Sarah Guillen, negotiating team member, EP, day shift
Kat Jabasa, negotiating team member, Main OR, day shift

Questions or comments? Contact Rep Jared Richardson at jrichardson@wsna.org or Organizer Grace LaMonte at glamonte@wsna.org.

Know a coworker who isn’t in our union at St. Joes, or a nurse who doesn’t have a union where they work? Reach out to organize@wsna.org and an organizer will reach out to you!