Ratification vote will be on Thursday, January 12 in the Mary Bridge Board Room (this is a change) from 0600-0900, 1100-1400, and 1800-2100. Vote count immediately after. You must be a member in good standing in order to vote.

• Wage Scale (Art 9.1) – the new wage scale will provide the best wages in Pierce County and will be competitive (and better than, in some cases) with Seattle Children’s Hospital and Swedish. We boosted the base wage to $40.80 (higher than every other acute care hospital in the area except Children’s and Overlake) and Step 25 and higher will be at $78.75 – a 24.13% increase over the current Step 25 rate. This is 9% higher than Overlake’s Step 25, the next highest rate in the area, and 11.5% higher than Children’s Step 25. Children’s nurses don’t make $78.75 until Step 33. These wages were accomplished by increasing the highest current wage rate and then compressing the scale to 25 steps from 33. This has the effect of substantially increasing the wage rates at all steps, even for those over Step 25. As of ratification, Step 25 will be the highest step on the wage scale.
• Ratios (Art. 16.5) – Ratios remain in the contract with clear language that delineates that the contract ratios for PCU, Med/Surg, and Women and Infants are only if the nurse has ancillary staff assisting; otherwise, the ratios are lower as specified in the state-submitted staffing plan.
  • Clearer language on EXLO. Different managers were paying EXLO in different ways at different times; now it’s one uniform process for the whole house. The contract clarifies that EXLO is tied to the ratios in the state-submitted staffing plan (which are the same or lower than the ones in the contract). If a nurse is flexed for two or more hours, they are eligible for EXLO. EXLO remains $5/hour.
    • EXLO will be paid if the unit is short as a result of management’s failure to fully staff before the shift starts. It will not be paid if nurses call in. NEW – if management says that they were fully staffed (e.g. with system or in-house float pool that doesn’t show up on schedules), they need to provide documentation that proves it.
    • If a charge nurse has to take patients or (NEW) an additional charge nurse assignment, management will either remove the charge assignment or pay EXLO if eligible.
    • If a manager disagrees that the nurse is owed EXLO, the CNE/designee will make the final decision.
• Clinical Service Lines (Art. 5.16) – Clinical service lines remain in the contract with modifications and safeguards that ensure that departments that are stretched too thin (think, 2M and ED in-patient holds) get the help they need while making sure that nurses who float are oriented, supported, and have access to supplies and meds.
  • The CSLs are realigned so that they’re based on patient level of care, not on specialty
  • We’ve expanded and clarified “guardrails” for nurses who float. Nurses can float within their clinical service line so long as they are competent and capable or have received cross training to a higher level of care or a new specialty.
  • New CSLs (assuming nurses are competent and capable or cross-trained are:
    • Critical Care:
      • NTICU can float to all critical care units and to ACC;
      • CVICU can float to all critical care units and to CCU and to PHU;
      • MSICU can float to all critical care units and to 5/6 PCU.
    • Progressive Care:
      • ACC can float to all progressive care units and NTICU;
      • CCU and PHU can float to all progressive care units and CVICU;
      • 5/6 PCU can float to all progressive care units, NTICU, and MSICU.
    • Emergency Department
    • Medical/Surgical
    • Family Birth Center, Lactation, and Women and Newborn
    • NICU
    • Perioperative, Perianesthesia
    • Procedural (CCL, IR, GI, CVAR)
    • Clinics - Trauma, Wound, Preventative Cardiology
    • Clinical Operations – VAT, Float Pool, Resource
  • Floating outside of CSL - (Art. 5.17.6) Nurses who float outside of their clinical service line will receive assignments based on skill, competence, and capability. They will receive an orientation and will not be required to perform tasks or procedures specifically applicable to the nursing unit to the floated unit if they have not been trained. Mandatorily floated nurses will receive an assignment that reflects the nurses assigned clinical service (that it, it takes into account but the level of patient care and ratio the nurse is used to). Orientation is based on the nurse’s previous experience and familiarity with the unit.
    • New - All nurses who float outside of their clinical service line will receive a $10.00/hour premium for all hours floated.
  • MOU re orientation - For 3 months after ratification (or longer, given demand), MultiCare will provide the opportunity for orientations and cross-training in areas of the hospital to which nurses may float. These 4-hour trainings are voluntary and will be paid. Nurses are expected to float regardless of whether they choose to participate in these trainings.
  • Float order (Art. 5.17) - 1) Volunteers; 2) System Float Pool nurses; 3) In-house Float Pool; 4) Agency nurses; 5) Traveler and Contracted Agency nurses; 6) Per diem nurses; 7) Equitable Rotation of FTE nurses
• Premiums and Differentials. (Art. 10)
  • NEW to Rest Between Shifts (Art. 10.10) – nurses who take call can now get rest between shifts if 1) their callback period is for 4 hours or more, and 2) there’s a “gap” between when the callback period ends and their regularly scheduled shift begins. Example: you get called back in at 0100, work until 0515, clock out and clock in at 0600 for your regular shift – you get less rest for the whole shift. You get called back at 0203 and your regular shift starts at 0600. You get callback pay from 0203-0600 and regular pay from 0600 for your shift.
    • We consider this a victory – it’s not everything we want all at once but it’s a foot in the door.
  • NEW to the contract/Improved in general – Student Loan Repayment (Art. 10.13) – up to $400/month (up from $333 and not in the contract before) provided the nurse is at least .75 FTE, has been at TG for at least six months. Tax-free up to $5,250/year (full benefit also includes education reimbursement). Nurses eligible for a max of 5 years.
  • Shift Diff (Art 10.1) second shift diff now $3/hour (up from $2.75); noc diff now $5.50/hour (up from $4.50). Night shift experience bonus ends in exchange – this benefits more noc nurses.
  • Standby Pay (Art. 10.2) now, all standby hours are paid at $6/hour (up from $4). We pulled the additional $4/hour for all standby hours over 60 – this benefits more nurses on standby.
  • Callback (Art. 10.3). Nurses will receive one minimum guaranteed payment within the same 3-hour period. If nurses are scheduled on standby at the end of their shift and stay past their scheduled shift end for up to 30 minutes, they will get overtime but not callback. However, a manager can initiate callback prior to the end of 30 minutes if the nurse is providing patient care that they’d be providing if they’d been called back.
  • Charge Nurse Pay (Art. 10.5) up to $3.25 (from $2.50).
  • Certification Pay (Art. 10.6) up to $1.25 (from $1.00).
  • Advanced Degree Premium (Art. 10.7) *if* the Employer begins using WorkDay (est. to start 4/23), Advanced Degree Premium will not be added to base rate but will be paid as a separate premium.
  • Preceptor Pay (Art. 10.8) Up to $2.00 (from $1.25).
  • Weekend Premium (Art. 10.11) Up to $4.25 (from $3.00).
  • Gain Sharing Plan (old 10.13) deleted from the contract based on having ended.
• IPP (Letter of Understanding) – improved/clarified – the Employer said that IPP should be paid in a dollar amount, not as 1.5x or 2x (if your manager offers you 1.5x/2x – get clarification if you’re worried it will pyramid and you’ll lose it). Normal float rules apply – if a nurse on IPP floats or floats to a department offered IPP, the nurse will receive IPP. Nurses will receive IPP if they’ve called out using PTO-ws. If you’re getting OT for a shift, IPP pay *should* stack but not if you’re receiving 1.5/2x as premium pay.
• Tiered Float Pool (Appendix E) – increased amounts per tier – Tier 1 $6/hour (was $2), Tier 2 $8/hour (was $3), Tier 3 $12/hour (was $5).
  • New – float pool tier clusters by level of care
    • Medical/Surgical
    • Family Birth Center, Post-Partum
    • NICU
    • Critical Care, Progressive Care
    • Emergency
    • Perioperative Services and Procedural Services
• Baylor Positions for the whole house (previously, just OR) (new Letter of Understanding) – weekend only positions will be expanded beyond the OR. Baylor nurses receive 1.5x pay provided they work the entire weekend schedule. Baylor nurses accrue PTO at 1.5x the normal rate.
• PTO/EIT (Art. 11)
  • Updated Accrual Chart. Reflects current practice.
  • PTOws-Sick
    • 11.3 – Nurses can use PTO/PTOws-Sick interchangeably (current practice).
    • 11.7.1 – NEW – additional cash-out period for PTOws-Sick – nurses must retain a minimum of 8 hours in the PTOws bank.
    • 11.3.5 – At the end of each calendar year, PTOws-Sick reduces to 52 hours (cash out in November if you’re over!).
  • President’s Day removed as a holiday (Art. 11.5)
  • Increased PTO donation amounts (Art. 11.8) – Nurses can donate up to 60 hours (was 16) provided they have at least 40 PTO hours or at least 240 EIT hours. Nurses must maintain at least 24 hours PTO after donation.
  • PTO/Holiday Request Process – departments will develop fair and equitable processes for taking PTO and holiday. NEW Memorandum of Understanding establishes a committee to provide guidance to departments. Nurses must vote on the new processes with a majority of nurses who vote carrying the decision.
• Safety Committee/Workplace Violence Prevention (Art. 16.3) – WSNA nurses will sit on the Hospital’s safety committee.
• Residency/Fellowship – Article 5 & App. C – new language that limits how long residents/outside fellows can be on probation and clarifies what the terms of these positions are. Clarify that internal fellows have options to remain at TG if the new department/specialty doesn’t work out.
• Start Time Rotation (Art. 8.7.1) new – if a manager needs to adjust a nurse’s start time to cover a discrete period of time (i.e. another department nurse is out on FMLA or PTO), the manager will seek volunteers first before assigning the least senior nurse and will provide details about start/end date.
• Bargaining Team Pay – (MOU) bargaining team members will receive $4,000 for 14 days of bargaining, prep days, and ratification. In addition, nurses are able to donate PTO to the bargaining team to offset the PTO/loss of pay that bargaining team members experienced during negotiations.

You must be a member in good standing to vote. Contact Nurse Rep Brenda Balogh at bbalogh@wsna.org with questions or for a membership application.