Negotiations Update

We met with Management for the first time on Wednesday, August 21, and made our first proposals. We are still considering opening proposals to make, and have not yet made any of our economic proposals (for raises, premiums, differentials, etc.). We came to a few low-key “tentative agreements,” including the use of nongendered pronouns in our contract, and using “Union” instead of “Association” where appropriate. A “tentative agreement” or “TA” means that the Union and Management have agreed on a specific issue and can set that aside until we both have come to a complete TA on all open issues (after which, Union members will vote to ratify the contract).

Observer Info

For the first time at St. Joe's, we're inviting observers to come and see the negotiations process for themselves! The next session will be at the Franciscan Education and Support Center (FESC), located near the hospital at 2420 S State St, Tacoma, WA.

Observers should arrive at 1:00. We encourage observers to sign up here so we can keep track of how many people plan on attending, but you are not required to sign up to observe. If you plan on observing, please make sure to read through this document so you know what to expect. For any questions about observing negotiations, reach out to WSNA Organizer Grace at 206-553-9794 or glamonte@wsna.org

St. Joe's Town Halls on 8/27 and 8/28

Interim President Sydney Bersante will be hosting two town halls this week - a virtual town hall on August 27, and a hybrid virtual/in person townhall on August 28. On August 28, we are encouraging all nurses attending the in person town hall to wear your WSNA blue shirts! You can find the invites and details about these meetings in your staff email - please make sure to submit your honest questions ahead of time using the link provided. It's up to us to hold our leadership accountable.

After negotiations on Wednesday, your WSNA Bargaining Team will be heading to the in-person town hall meeting. Come down and join us if you can!

Thursday Virtual Post-Negotiations Meeting: Join the Sip & Chat!

This year, we're launching our first series of virtual union updates, led by your bargaining team and officers! On our agenda so far for this session:

• Negotiations Summary so far
• Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs) 101
• Questions for the Team

The first meeting will be at 7:00pm on Thursday, which you can join virtually via this Microsoft Teams link. These are casual, virtual sessions where you can learn more about what's happening in negotiations and can get your questions answered by the bargaining team! No need to stay for the whole session - join for a few minutes or stay for the whole hour.

Paycheck Issues 

We are aware that nurses are seeing issues with their paychecks including changes to how they have been paid in the past for premium pay on different shifts. Please take a look at your paycheck stubs and contact your nurse representative at jrichardson@wsna.org if you have any concerns or questions.

We know that the paycheck stubs are difficult to read and can be confusing. The current practice if you have any questions about line items on your paycheck is to reach out to HR to set up an appointment to go over the line items. Understanding the ins and outs of your paycheck should not require a decoder ring, and we are working on addressing this issue in negotiations. In the meantime, continue to advocate for yourself by asking for clarification from HR on how and why you are being paid.

Pop Quiz! 

To our friends in the ED - make sure you wear your WSNA shirt temporary tattoos in the break room!

Don't forget to wear your WSNA blue shirts on bargaining days and Blue Fridays! Send pictures of your unit to our Instagram @sjmc_wsna, or to a member of the bargaining team. 

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

You can contact WSNA Nurse Representative Jared Richardson, MSN, RN, at jrichardson@wsna.org or WSNA Organizer Grace LaMonte at glamonte@wsna.org.