In this news you can use you will find the following information.

• Contract update
• Rounding
• Investigation workshop
• Committee corner
• Grievance updates

Contract update

If you didn’t know, WSNA filed a grievance on behalf of all nurses at St. Luke’s regarding premiums in Article 4 of your contract. The new contract was ratified (approved) by nurses on November 13, 2024. Premiums including charge nurse, weekend, night differential, and preceptor did not increase to the newly negotiated rate. The Union’s position is that the Employer did not bargain with WSNA for them to be effective any later than ratification and they should have paid out immediately. This is different than the across the board raises which was bargained to start the second full pay period after ratification. Your union is in contact with management to try and get the final copy of the contract posted to your local page. In the event you feel there is a contract violation or issue with your wages, contact your WSNA Nurse Rep Alle Machorro at amachorro@wsna.org.

Rounding

Your WSNA Nurse Representative will be available for you in the cafeteria on the last Thursday of each month from 4-6pm. Drop by, share your concerns, grab swag, and learn more about your Union. Dates of rounding include

• January 30, 4-6pm
• February 27, 4-6pm
• March 27, 4-6p

Investigation Workshop

Join us on January 28, from 1-2 pm for our HR investigation interview workshop! This free hybrid format training is co-led by Tristan Twohig RN from Holy Family and Alle Machorro WSNA Nurse Rep. The goal of this workshop is to equip our nurses if they are ever called to an HR meeting or to support a colleague in their interview. We will have content prepared and a practical demonstration of an investigation meeting. RSVP here if you can attend in person or virtually.

Committee Corner

Conference Committee

our executive team was unable to meet given the holiday scheduling conflicts for December. We have sent dates to leadership to meet in January. Agenda items include CARF certification, Extra shift MOU, float pool competencies, and equipment concerns. Do you have concerns affecting you or your workplace conditions? Contact one of your officers or WSNA Nurse Rep to see if we can address it at the Conference Committee.

Staffing Committee

In December we received the COO’s year end report. Here is what we learned from leadership. For 2024 here is data relevant to nursing

• Fall count with injury- 14
• Falls without injury- 85
  • Regarding falls, your nurses asked the scope of falls as far as staff and these numbers account for all falls. This includes a fall with nursing and a fall with therapies. Your COO also said the following about falls “As you are aware, we have an active fall committee diligently examining the various factors contributing to these incidents. From our recent analysis, a significant number of falls have been linked to patients being unattended in the bathroom, alarms not being activated, and wheelchair brakes not engaged prior to transfer. It is also noted that the last hour of dayshift and first hour of night shift has a high rate.”
• CAUTI- 7 total in 2024 with half noted on SCI. These occurred in April, May, September and October.
• CLABSI- 0 (for 5 years in a row- OUTSTANDING)

This report also included what your Employer has done for recruitment and retention. This is what they say they’ve done for 2024.

“We have implemented several initiatives to improve recruitment and retention including. Competitive Salaries: Adjustments to our salary structure to remain competitive in the market.
Marketing: Job fairs, college recruitment, online marketing.

Professional Development: Offering continuous education and career advancement opportunities, residency programs, and pipeline programs like the CNA student- earn to learn program. 
Employee Wellness: Choose Well program, help in a hurry resources, mental wellness resources, health aides (Body), spiritual health and so much more.

Caregiver Engagement: caregiver engagement scores from our last Glint survey have come in at 74. St. Luke’s does a variety of recognition programs throughout the year to reward caregivers for their hard work and dedication. Examples, Daisy Awards, Sunshine awards, Rehab week awards, BBQ’s, holiday meals, etc.”

Workplace violence and safety

This is a new committee established under our new contract. Kelsie Gordon, WSNA RN has been appointed to represent nurses on this committee. Update coming soon from the January meeting.

Grievance Updates

DuCoeur (BSN pay)- presented argument to Nancy Webster COO for Step 3. Response due by the Employer on January 20, 2025. The Union alleges the Employer has willfully not payed Macy her BSN premium from hire. We allege that the Employer maintains no formal system or practice for notifying nurses hired with BSN that there are extra steps to receive the contracted premium. The Union also alleges that the contract does not reflect extra steps or verification as indicate by the Employer.

Olson & All Affected- Similar allegations to DuCoeur regarding BSN pay, expanded to all nurses at St. Luke’s not paid for BSN upon hire. Informal meeting on 1/13 with leadership to see if there is a path to informal resolution.

Lee & All Affected- Filed for all nurses at St. Luke’s for recent removal of certification pay for nurses. Meeting on 1/15 with leadership to see if there is a path to informal resolution.

Get Involved TODAY

What do you love about working at St. Luke’s? Maybe it’s the recent raises or the stackable certification premiums. Maybe it’s the clinical ladder or second charge nurse on night shift. These are all conditions of your work that WSNA nurses in your hospital have helped secure. These achievements are possible largely in part due to nurses being WSNA members.

The number of nurses involved in their local unit and engaging in committees and events shows Management that nurses know their rights. Management knows every nurse who joins the union is another nurse who won’t back down. Management also knows how many nurses participate since they manage your payroll deductions.

All nurses should know- if the Employer is changing anything that relates to your wages, hours, or working conditions, those are mandatory subjects of bargaining. Nurses at St. Luke’s are joining their union and advocating for themselves, colleagues, and their patients. Join today and see how you can help move the work forward.

WSNA Convention and General Assembly registration is OPEN

Are you interested in attending the WSNA Convention? Hear from some powerful names in nursing nationally. Then, dive into the biggest issues facing nursing today: safe staffing, workplace violence prevention, and health equity. Panels include government officials and top experts who will give you the knowledge and tools to act. Lend your voice to resolutions to make workplaces safer and speak out on the future of WSNA. Register today and gain 10.5 CNE hours by attending. If you would like to inquire about a potential scholarship reach out to Alle Machorro at amachorro@wsna.org. 
 
In Solidarity,
Jeff Dubrawski WSNA Chair
Erika Lee WSNA Co-Chair
Noel Wise WSNA Grievance Officer