After 15 bargaining sessions, Virginia Mason is still refusing to meet us in the middle around outstanding concerns voiced by nurses including workplace violence, staffing, recruitment, and retention. After months of being ignored and placated about the concerns, and more than one meeting blown off by management, we knew what we had to do.

500 nurses, community supporters, labor leaders, and politicians turned out Tuesday, October 10, 2023, on the picket line to send a message to Common Spirit that would be irresponsible to ignore.

For our patients, for each other, we will stand up and WE WILL BE HEARD!

You see, some of us still remember the kindness and caring of our treasured community hospital before CHI took over and we believe in Mama Mason to do better and be better for everyone who depends on her. Human kindness? This is about human lives. This is about people who deserve better than to be thought of as a cost on a spreadsheet for some mega hospital conglomerate “non-profit” entity.

This was never just about us. This is about our patients, our community, our co-workers, and everyone who works at Virginia Mason. We are incredibly disappointed that we would even need to take such action to be heard around something so basic as safety at a hospital. We are prepared to do what it takes to keep our patients and community safe.

We are not finished yet. We still have two more negotiation sessions next week. On Oct. 17 and 18. We hope Common Spirit hears us and our concerns but if not, we will continue to do whatever we can to help them see the importance of the concerns we are raising.

It takes all of us:

To our courageous colleagues who shared their experiences at the rally and to the media: thank you. It takes a lot to stand up and talk about what you went through, and we are all grateful for that. It is making a huge difference in how our community sees our struggles and the support they are offering.

If anyone else has experienced workplace violence or witnessed it and would like to step up and reinforce the need for better security measures, please share those experiences here:

Our wonderful WSNA staff have also reached out to local legislators to amplify our voices and continue the very important conversation about violence in the healthcare setting. Save the date for a virtual listening session Friday, Oct. 27 from 1900-2000 (more details to come).

#savevirginiamason

In solidarity,
The Bargaining Team
Kim Adekoya, ER; Sam Asencio, WSNA Treasurer and OR; Martha Bermeo, C8; Hannah Collins-Lewis, C9; Jane Hill Littlejohn, WSNA Chair and Resource Nurse; Art Laycock, IV; Kaylyn Lesser, ER Aaron Persinger, C17; Michael Salters, CCU; Kim Travis-Carter, ED; Donna Watts, Birth Center; Allison Wortman, J5 Recovery

Questions or comments, please contact your Nurse Representative, Barbara Friesen bfriesen@wsna.org or Organizer Crystal Doll at  cdoll@wsna.org.