We met with management on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019, to discuss the upcoming rebid for Med-Surg units—2-South, 4-South, 7^th Floor and 9^th Floor. The goal was to seek clarification and get answers to many of the questions you have sent to us.

Management was unwilling to grandfather out the 8 hour shifts through attrition; they said it was not feasible with this size of an organization. There are several 8-hour break relief positions available, but the number was unclear at that time. One is posted. The 7^th floor position is going through FTE committee. There may be 8-hour shifts other than the break relief positions through other departments. Management wants to be creative to resolve any issues for nurses being forced into 12-hour shifts. Retention is the key.

We expressed that these changes should first have gone through the Safe Staffing Committee. They disagreed, saying the RN/Patient staffing ratios did not change. We are continuing to work on this.

We described the following scenarios that you have brought forward that make it impossible or extremely difficult to work 12-hour shifts:

• Personal and family obligations
• Residency repayment obligations
• Tuition reimbursement repayment obligations
• Cuts in FTE and loss of evening shift differential
• Health issues

Important information came to light including:

For Residents, if you are adversely impacted going from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts, please contact WSNA Nurse Rep, Hanna Welander. The employer will look at residency contracts on a case-by-case basis to determine if nurses can be let out of their contractual obligation. Hanna will help you facilitate that with the Human Resources Director.

If you received tuition reimbursement and if you cannot work 12-hour shifts, you will not be required to pay back the tuition.

Because management was unwilling to grandfather the 8-hour shifts through attrition, the employer is holding the 8-hour break relief positions to attempt to accommodate any nurse who cannot work 12-hour shifts.

If you have medical reasons why you cannot work 12-hour shifts, please get in touch with Janet Sanders in Human Resources who is your Human Resources disability specialist.

Vacations: If you have vacation already pre-scheduled, talk with your manager to ensure that you don’t have to modify your vacation requests.

Outside nurse recruits: We learned of nurses who were hired from out of state. When these nurses arrive, they will become members of our union and will be slotted into available positions. No current nurses will be displaced. They are being assigned to all CHI hospitals. Since they signed on, some have declined their offers. At this time, we do not know exactly how many will be coming to St. Joe’s.

Management felt that if your FTE was cut, you have the option to pick up extra shifts. We do not think this is a good solution. However, if you are scheduled at 0.6 FTE or above, you receive the same benefits as full-time FTEs do.

Mandatory Cuts: We are asking for clarity and transparency on the process of Mandatory Cuts, and ask that they follow our contract language. If you feel you are cut out of turn, they ask that you go to your manager to investigate. If you don’t feel you get a satisfactory response from your manager, notify WSNA for the option to file a grievance.

Regarding calling Staffing Office for Sick Calls, Cut List, Availability List: Do NOT leave a message on the former staffing office phone number of 253-426-6751 as it has changed. Please use 253-573-6243. The centralized staffing office is now located at Mission Control.

Floating to Other Units: We are hearing about issues and concerns about proper orientation for floating to other units. We will ask management for clarification at the Conference Committee meeting this week.

We continue to monitor and investigate these issues. Please feel free to contact us.

Dian Davis, RN, Local Unit Co-Chair

Allie Jones, RN, Local Unit Co-Chair

Sally Budack, RN-BC, Local Unit Secretary

Janet Stewart, RN, Local Unit Treasurer and Grievance Officer

Linda Burbank, RN, Local Unit Grievance Officer

Matthew McGuire, RN, Local Unit Grievance Officer

Melissa Garcia, RN, Local Unit Membership Officer

Rachael DeSouza, MSN, RN, Local Unit Membership Officer

Hanna Welander, WSNA Nurse Rep, hwelander@wsna.org or 206—575-7979, Ext. 3035.