Your WSNA officers finished their ninth session of contract negotiations with Providence St. Luke’s Management. We have heard from many of you how slow this process has felt, and we could not agree more. Our session on August 2, 2024, was productive and resulted in several important tentative agreements; but we are still far apart on core issues, including low census, staffing, health insurance and compensation.

WSNA secured significant increases in premiums.  Evening shift will increase from $2.25 per hour to $3.00 per hour.  Night shift will increase from $3.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour. Preceptor premium will DOUBLE from $1.00 per hour to $2.00 per hour.  Charge Nurse premium will MORE THAN DOUBLE from $2.00 per hour to $4.50 per hour.  We also reached agreement on the PTO request and approval process, ensuring a fair process for the summer and winter holiday periods.

Management continues to reject our proposal that traveler nurses be low censused before FTE nurses. They continue to demand that dedicated FTE nurses be subject to daily layoffs in the form of low census to keep travelers working. Providence KNOWS that this is not equitable and has long agreed at Sacred Heart and Holy Family to low census agency and traveler nurses before subjecting FTE nurses to mandatory low census. Why does Providence continue to insist on treating St. Lukes’s nurses as second-class citizens? Our message is loud and clear- stop giving traveler nurses preferential treatment over core staff.

We remain far apart on wages. Through its proposals, Providence continues to insist that St. Luke’s nurses accept wages that are FAR below other Providence ministries such as Sacred Heart and Holy Family.  Because of this, under Providence’s proposal, St. Luke’s will continue to need to rely on costly travelers to fill chronic staffing needs.  Nurses and patients will continue to suffer the effects of inadequate staffing.  Unlike Sacred Heart and Holy Family, where Providence has begun to replenish its core RN staff, St. Luke’s has depleted its RN staff over the years and has not recovered.

Management also insists on much lower wage increases for certain classifications of nurses at St. Luke’s.  For example, management is proposing a 3% increase in the first year for RN Diabetic Educators and Clinical Consultants and only 2% for Care Managers. If Providence has the money to spend on travelers, then it has the money to pay its nurses competitive wages. There is no reason Providence cannot pay the wages that WSNA is proposing for St. Luke’s. They simply do not want to.

There is a simple solution to the staffing problem: STOP UNDERPAYING ST. LUKE’S NURSES.

How YOU can support your bargaining team:

1. On bargaining days- wear your WSNA T shirt, button or sticker to show you stand with your team. Take a picture with your coworkers and send it to your nurse rep Alle Machorro at 206-707-2048.
2. Union membership- Join WSNA today. When you become a member, it shows management that nurses are paying attention
3. Attend a bargaining session as an observer and speak your truth about why wages and proposals matter to you. Our next bargaining session is this Friday August 16, 2024. Nurses can observe for 4 or 8 hours. T-shirts provided.

In Solidarity,
Jeff Dubrawski RN WSNA Chair
Megan Iata RN WSNA Co-Chair
Erika Lee RN WSNA Treasurer
Allison White RN WSNA Secretary
Noel Wise RN WSNA Grievance Officer

Contact your WSNA Nurse Representative Alle Machorro with any questions or to get signed up to observe at amachorro@wsna.org or 206-707-2048.