WSNA nurses at St. Luke’s we have an important update for you

Recently, management terminated one of your WSNA nurses. The termination letter provided states the basis of the termination as an alleged HIPAA violation and WSNA has filed a grievance on this nurse’s behalf. WSNA as an organization has dealt with allegations of HIPAA violations at other ministries like Holy Family in Spokane and many nurses have remained working even in instances of clear violation. Every single case of discipline and discharge is unique and WSNA is here to support nurses through the grievance process when they choose to file.  We remain unclear and will find out through the formal grievance process, why St. Luke’s refused to implement the principle of progressive discipline before terminating a nurse.

What does this mean for you?

We think this means what we saw in bargaining- St. Luke’s is not who it used to be. As Providence has taken over and moved in, so have their algorithms and overall disregard for their workers.

WSNA has also filed 4 grievances regarding pay practices that may impact you!

What is a grievance? In short, a grievance is when a nurse feels the Employer is violating the contract. It is a formal complaint filed by the Union against the Employer. This process can be found in Article 20 of your contract. Three of your own nurses recently filed grievances listed below and WSNA filed a grievance on behalf of all the nurses at St. Luke’s for the Employer not paying Article 4 premiums since the contract was ratified on November 13.

• DuCoeur grievance
• Lee and All Affected (certifications)
• Olson and All Affected (Education premiums)
• Association grievance for premium increases (Article 4 premiums fail to increase after contract vote)

We are reminding all nurses to check your paystubs EVERY TIME YOU GET PAID. We cannot count on the Employer to operate systems that don’t fail. Recently WSNA was made aware that multiple nurse’s certification premium pay dropped off for apparently no reason. For one nurse, the Employer cited the reason for removal as it not being applicable to the float pool department despite having ACLS, PALS, and CRRN. We feel this is another example of how the Providence algorithm has moved into St. Luke’s.

WSNA has also been investigating BSN/MSN pay and found rampant inconsistencies in how nurses receive pay for these premiums. Macy, an RN at St. Luke’s worked over 900 hours without her BSN premium despite graduating from a BSN program and providing that on her resume and job application. Macy’s grievance has been denied by your CNO Marlo Andreoli and will be heard next by the COO Nancy Webster. We have uncovered multiple nurses hired with BSN degrees that it appears the Employer willfully did not tell them about extra procedural steps needed to obtain BSN premium pay. WSNA has also heard from nurses who received back pay for delayed BSN premiums, but the Employer has told us that their longstanding practice is NOT to award backpay.

Stay tuned to what is happening in your workplace! You can catch the most recent edition of your newsletter here.

Not a member? Join today! Membership in your union is crucial because it provides workers with a collective voice. By banding together, we gain strength and leverage to address your important workplace issues and advocate for your rights effectively.

Questions? Contact your local officers or your WSNA Nurse Representative Alle Machorro at amachorro@wsna.org.

In Solidarity,

Jeff Dubrawski WSNA Chair
Erika Lee WSNA Co-Chair
Noel Wise WSNA Grievance Officer