Did you know?

• WSNA proposed wage increases
• Overpayment repayment issue continues
• WSNA is supporting NICU nurses right to privacy
• WSNA Convention qualifies for paid educational/professional leave
• There are openings for WSNA Unit Reps
• Cafeteria time is every month
• We have our own WSNA local unit website

WSNA proposed wage increases

After TG ratified their most recent contract with great wage increases our WSNA Local Unit Officers and Nurse Rep proposed at our January Conference Committee wages be increased at SJMC to try to help retain nurses. Management reported they were aware and were taking it into consideration. (As a side note for anyone who may not know what Conference Committee is, it is where our WSNA team meets with management to discuss problems and try to resolve them collaboratively. The minutes to these meetings are posted on the WSNA bulletin boards in each unit).

When we met again in February we asked about a response and were told we would get a proposal in March. We did receive a proposal that was less than the TG wages we had hope to see. We met with them to bargain about their proposal and provided a counter proposal of our own. They are reviewing and considering our counter proposal at this time. Stay tuned!

Overpayment repayment

WSNA is actively working with management to try to reach an agreement to settle this matter in a way that provides an understandable itemization of the alleged overpayments, a dispute process, and reasonable method of repayment.

WSNA is supporting NICU nurses’ right to privacy

Some of our NICU nurses recently reported management was requiring them to complete a questionnaire they felt was invasive of their privacy and shared a copy of that questionnaire with us. Our WSNA leadership agreed with the nurses and sent management a demand to cease and desist requiring nurses to divulge personal and medical information about themselves and their families. Management continues to push forward to try and force the nurses to complete these intrusive questionnaires with the plan of keeping them in their employee health record. WSNA will continue to do everything we can to stop this and to also ensure any and all questionnaires that may have already been submitted are destroyed.

WSNA Convention qualifies for paid educational/professional leave

A 2 South nurse recently reported to the WSNA Local Unit Officers she was denied the Paid Educational/Professional Leave that is provided in Article 14.3 of our contract.

14.3 Paid Educational/Professional Leave. After one (1) year of continuous employment, nurses shall be allowed up to forty (40) hours of paid educational/professional leave per year including shift differential when a nurse is regularly scheduled to work on an evening or night shift; provided, however, such leave is subject to the approval of the Employer of the subject matter to be studied. Approval of subject matter shall not be unreasonably denied, so long as it is not related to collective bargaining. Scheduling requirements may be a factor in determining how many nurses from a given unit shall be granted leave to attend the same course offering. Should educational leave that has been approved by the Employer be canceled by the Employer, that portion of the registration fee that is not refunded shall be paid by the Employer. Approval or disapproval for educational leave shall be given in writing one (1) week after a request is submitted. For full-time and part-time nurses, the hours paid will be in accordance with the following schedule:

Assigned FTE Paid Education Hours
80 - 72 hours 40 hours
71 - 60 hours 32 hours
59 - 49 hours 28 hours
48 hours 24 hours
47 - 36 hours 20 hours
35 - 24 hours 16 hours

The 2 South nurse had requested paid education hours to attend our WSNA Convention that is going to be held here in Tacoma at the Tacoma Convention Center May 17-19. She even provided the agenda so management could see it was all great educational sessions that were focused on our professional practice. Nevertheless, she was told she would not be approved because it was a WSNA convention.

Our WSNA leadership team filed a grievance since this was clearly a violation of our contract language. We also proposed to management we would like to settle this outside of the grievance process, if possible. Management agreed WSNA Convention does qualify. The 2 South nurse has subsequently been notified by managers she has been approved and is now planning to attend our convention.

There are openings for WSNA Unit Reps

We have several positions open for WSNA Unit Reps. This is the most important position to have filled to have a strong and effective union even though the time commitment is minimal. Our goal is a 1:10 ratio (1 rep for every 10 WSNA members). If you want to get more involve with the union, like to be the first in the know about what is happening, be the first to get a copy of the Conference Committee minutes to post on your bulletin boards, and share info with your peers, this is for you.
If you would like more information about the Officer or Unit Rep positions, please contact any Local Unit Officer or Nurse Rep Barbara at bfriesen@wsna.org.

Cafeteria Time is every month

The first Tuesday of each month, our WSNA Nurse Rep, and sometimes Local Unit Officers, are in the cafeteria from 1400 - 1900.

This is a time you can stop by and ask a question, tell us about a concern, learn more about who our local WSNA leadership is and what we do, or join our team.

Please stop by to chat!

Our next Cafeteria Time is Tuesday, April 4 from 1400 – 1900.

We have our own WSNA local unit website

If you want to see our contract, most recent as well as past communications, or get in touch with a Unit Rep, Local Unit Officer, or Nurse Rep, check out this page.