On April 19 at 6 p.m., the WSNA officers at UWMC will host a tele-town hall. A tele-town hall is a town-hall style meeting over the phone rather than in person. WSNA Chair Harry James wants to update us on what’s happening with our union and at our workplace. There are lots of rumors floating around and the future of certain units is uncertain. Don’t spread rumors – get the facts! It’s also our chance to speak to the officers about issues that we care about and to ask questions. It’s easy to participate, but you must register ahead of time to get a PIN. Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Organizer Sydne James at 206-575-7979 x3004.

Register online now to get your PIN at bit.ly/2H1fEss.

Have you seen this? This is our WSNA recommitment card. Within a few months, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide on a case called Janus v. ASFCME. It could have a devastating effect on our union power as public-sector nurses. All public-sector union employees will be impacted nationwide. The case is designed to do one thing: silence our voice. At UWMC, union nurses are fighting back. We have an all-time high membership here and we mean to use the power that comes with it to shut down those who mean to harm us. Our membership is our power. Anyone who tells you otherwise has an ulterior motive and should be ignored.

We, the officers at UWMC, along with our elected leaders and staff at the local, state and national level, believe that by signing a recommitment card today you will be taking the first step to ensuring we maintain and even increase the power we have to continue advocating for our patients and our profession.

If you are not yet a member of WSNA, we urge you to join today. There is no time to waste. Join nurses from around UWMC to stand up for the issues that matter to us all, like staffing, rest breaks and safe patient care. The recommitment card is equivalent to a membership application.

Find the recommitment at: wsna.to/recommit. Print it, complete it, then return it by:

1. Fax to: 206-575-1908
2. Give to Harry, Charles or Teresa. (Our contact info is found on your unit WSNA bulletin board or at wsna.org/union, under UWMC).
3. Mail to: WSNA, 575 Andover Park West, Suite 101, Tukwila WA 98188

As your WSNA elected officers, we again want say how proud we are to celebrate and support the WSNA members at UWMC. As such we have a gift for all members and we plan to distribute these during Nurses Week. Look in your mail box on your unit for yours.

Passing these gifts out is a tall order as there are hundreds of members. We are looking for a volunteer from every unit or work area to help pass out these gifts to the WSNA members. Will you help us? Contact Harry, Charles or Teresa to volunteer. (Our contact info is found on your unit WSNA bulletin board or at wsna.org/union, under UWMC).

In addition to this gift, stay tuned for something special happening for RNs at the various UWMC locations during Nurses Week. These events will be announced ahead of time via email and on the Facebook page:www.facebook.com/UWMCnurses.

I have worked at UWMC for 30 years and have been a per diem since 2001, primarily for Maternity Infant Center. It is hard to believe we per diems have never had the benefit of WSNA representation or a contract and I am pleased to be part of this historic event. I have seen some concerning and confusing practices be mandated as a per diem in recent history and it has not felt secure to be a per diem now, as it once was. This makes the need for contract protection ever more urgent. The negotiations team is very skilled in advocating for professional nursing rights. Ironically, I was a staff RN rep to this same team as a nearly-new grad back in the 1980’s and I also have experience on the administrative side in my other role as a manager on Whidbey, so I think I bring some good skills to the table on your behalf.

As many of you know, we have our third negotiations team meeting with UWMC administration on April 18. Our goals include protecting our valuable per diems from unfair scheduling, wages and work practices, especially in comparison to other hospitals whose per diems are represented by a good contract. It is also important that we work for consistency among the UWMC per diems, so that unit-based practices don’t put some per diems at a disadvantage and there is a feeling of cohesiveness and unity between the per diems and the staff RNs who are all represented now by WSNA. Please feel free to reach out to me if I can answer any questions you have about this monumental undertaking. Please sign up to join WSNA so your voice is heard loud and clear in support of our efforts! Membership applications are online at: https://www.wsna.org/membership/introduction.

Trish L. Nilsen, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM. 206-818-6536, nilsens@whidbey.com