2024 Union Leadership Conference
WSNA 2024 Union Leadership Conference. April 28 - 30 , 2024. Campbell's Resort, Chelan WA.
https://www.wsna.org/calendar/2024-union-leadership-conference

Free Leadership Conference

Don’t miss WSNA’s premier labor training event at Campbell’s Resort on Lake Chelan. You’ll enjoy great trainings, networking, and loads of fun. If you are a union member, your WSNA officers are offering a sponsorship to the first 15 nurses who contact WSNA. This includes the conference fee, hotel and mileage reimbursement.  Please contact your nurse rep, Sara Frey sfrey@wsna.org to add your name to the list and to receive instructions for signing up. Be sure to put in for the time off now! If you are not a union member, you can join today!

The year 2023 was an incredible year for labor, and WSNA nurses are a part of that. Across the state we have fought hard and won some amazing contracts. Join us as we celebrate our victories, get an update on the national and state labor scenes, learn how to be more effective leaders in our own workplaces, and strategize for what’s coming next.

Nominate a champion of change by Feb. 16 – both individuals and teams – who stepped up as a union member. Awardees announced at the WSNA Union Leadership Conference in Chelan April 28-30. 

Sick Calls

WSNA is aware that the hospital is communicating with nurses about the use of sick time and in at least one case, has published the names of nurses along with their use of sick time. Your WSNA contract prohibits discrimination or retaliation for the use of sick time under article 11 and additionally, it is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any employee’s rights, including the lawful use of paid sick leave. WSNA believes the publishing of names, is punitive and dissuades nurses from using sick time when warranted. If you feel you have appropriately utilized your sick time and are being disciplined or counseled, please contact your WSNA rep Sara Frey (sfrey@wsna,org) immediately. If you have been asked to sign a document, please send that to your WSNA rep. If you are being asked to have a conversation with your manager, you should ask, “is this an investigation and could what we talk about, lead to discipline?” If the answer is yes, you have the right to have a rep with you and you should tell your manager that you need to arrange for a WSNA rep to be with you. This applies to any time you are being asked to explain what happened in a particular situation including discussing your use of sick time.

Grievances

Charge Nurse Assignments

Thank you for continuing to fill out ADOs when you experience issues with staffing. WSNA has been receiving a flood of ADOs that demonstrate that charge nurses are regularly being assigned a patient load. In most cases, this appears to be a contract violation. We are waiting for the hospital to respond to our grievance. We also have at least one staffing grievance that alleges unilateral changes in staffing without discussion and approval at the staffing committee as required.

Pay issues

We have several ongoing grievances regarding a variety of pay issues. Please be sure to always carefully examine your paycheck for errors. Know when you are expecting a step or cost of living increase so you can verify that you have received it. Be sure to check that you are receiving the proper premiums. Nurses are finding way too many errors and are experiencing significant delays or getting no responses at all from payroll. Please notify WSNA promptly if you are unable to get a timely response from payroll or if there is no response at all.

Schedules

We have several grievances related to the use of mandatory overtime, impermissible use of call and rotating shifts. The hospital cannot require you to be available (call) without paying you. Call can only be utilized in some units, not all.  Except for a few situations, the hospital is not allowed to use mandatory overtime to staff departments. Know your contract and if you have questions, please contact your nurse representative for assistance with questions or concerns.

If you have any questions please contact WSNA Nurse Representative Sara Frey sfrey@wsna.org