Join us! WSNA and your local unit leaders are hosting a Local Unit meeting, drinks and appetizers.

There are many things happening at UWMC Montlake and UWMC Northwest that you need to be aware of.

We will be discussing everything from the Staffing Crisis, early bargaining, the employer’s effort to combine Montlake and NW RN contracts, Change in Part-time and Per Diem titles and benefits, and lots more.

This event is free so please make time to show up and get informed

Where: Ray’s Boathouse in Ballard
Address: 6049 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
When: July 7
What time: 5pm to 9pm

We will be conducting two question and answer sessions starting at 5:30 and then again at 7:30 p.m.

Appetizers will be served. Mark this on your calendar, Pre-register with an RN colleague, and see you there!

It is imperative that you register for this event asap per the link below. There are limited seats, and we want to make sure that you are in one of them!

Unit Clarification Filed by UWMC
UWMC had filed a Unit Clarification with the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) to force WSNA to combine the contracts for the two bargaining Units of Montlake and Northwest into one.

The rationale stated by the employer is that they want to be able to have flexible staffing that allows them to float RNs interchangeably between UWMC Montlake and NW.

WSNA has responded to our objection to this effort at this time. PERC will be reviewing all written documentation submitted and make a decision at an unknown future date.

Early Bargaining
You have likely received a notification via email from the employer stating that by advisement of UWMC Attorneys, they are demanding to bargain the contract that expires June 30, 2023, starting ASAP and reach an agreement by October 1 and submit it to the Office of Financial Management for approval. There are a few other unions that do this, but it relies on funding of wages and benefits from State Funds. WSNA RN’s salaries and benefits have never been reliant on state funds. WSNA has not received information that convinces us that has changed. We have relayed to the employer that it is our desire to bargain in the spring as we customarily do for the contract expiring June 30, 2023.

Incentive Shift Premium and Wage Increase efforts
WSNA reached out to UWMC Labor Relations and Nursing Leadership with a request to extend the Incentive Shift Premium MOU that currently expires at the end of June. The employer expressed an interest in extending through the end of September at this time.

WSNA also requested that in accordance with our CBA, the employer consider a one-time across-the-board wage increase of 5% effective immediately. This would be a gesture of recognition of the need to recruit and retain the brightest RNs from across the Northwest. With hospitals offering huge Sign-on Bonuses coupled with higher hourly wages, it seems like the most immediate and impactful way to show RNs they truly desire to be the “Employer of choice”. Their response was that we can discuss this during our next negotiations for the contract that begins in July of 2023. With Travel RNs making up over 1/3 of the OR and attrition continuing at an all-time high, July of 2023 is not soon enough.

We need the employer to act now and show RNs what they are worth in this most competitive market.

ADOs
We have been receiving ADOs from several units around the hospital that staffing has been pressed to the point of creating potential patient harm.

ADOs/Staffing Complaint Forms are a mutually agreed-upon document that both the employer and WSNA agree to utilize for tracking and quality improvement. This is also part of the staffing law that requires the hospital to gather, review and resolve any such staffing complaints.

If you have a shift where you believe that staffing is inadequate or poses a hazard to patients or staff, fill out an ADO/Staffing Complaint form every time!

Change in Part-Time and Per Diem Definitions
WSNA and the employer have met on several occasions to address a few changes in the RCWs (laws called the Revised Codes of Washington) that have made some of our current Contract Language obsolete. We are working to incorporate the new changes in the law without stripping benefits for Part-Time and Per Diem RNs working in those roles now or in the future. We have dates during the last two weeks of June to meet again with the employer and attempt to modify the contract to incorporate only the necessary changes prior to the July 1 deadline.

Presumptive eligibility

• Presumptive Eligibility Updates - Know your rights
• WSNA has been pressing on management to ensure unit managers are fully educated on Senate Bill 5190, the presumptive eligibility law. We have heard nurses have been asked by their managers where they got COVID and have been forced to deplete their own leave accounts. Under that law, provided the nurse is not on a designated leave and is still working at the bedside, that question should not be asked, as the assumption is nurses got it from the workplace. With an increase in staff infections, it’s important to know that workers are presumed to have gotten COVID from work. L and I has approved most claims in the great majority of cases. Always in the case of COVID!
• When a nurse or health care worker contracts the illness that is the subject of a state or federal health emergency, it is presumed they got it at work. This presumption applies to workers’ compensation (for time off work due to illness) and unemployment insurance (for time off work due to quarantine).
• The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) decides if a worker qualifies for workers’ compensation — not employers or third-party administrators.
• An employer must have “clear and convincing” evidence (the strongest evidence standard in state law) to rebut this presumption.

Thoughts from the Chair
Tiffany Guyette WSNA LU officer NW Hospital
"Our hospitals, and healthcare in general, is at a really pivotal moment. Those that work at the bedside have to stay informed and stay loud about the issues that directly affect your work/life balance, your patient load, and your compensations."

• Ever considered becoming a WSNA Local Unit Representative?
• How about being on the next Contract Bargaining Team?

It is our goal to have a Representative on every unit as a “go to” for any contract related issues including scheduling, pay and many others.

Questions? Contact one of your officers, WSNA Nurse Organizer or your WSNA Nurse Representative.

UWMC Montlake Nurse Representative Ed Zercher ezercher@wsna.org
UWMC NW Nurse Representative Sara Frey sfrey@wsna.org
UWMC Nurse Organizer Will Nesper wnesper@wsna.org