Our negotiations session yesterday was not as positive as we had hoped. The Employer continues to only offer our nurses 0% wage increase and a one-year contract. Our last proposal to the Employer was a three-year contract with increases as follows:

2% 1/1/2020
3% 4/1/2021
4% 4/1/2022

CEO Ron Telles came to the Negotiations session from 1-2 p.m. and listened to about 20 nurses who expressed their frustration and feelings of being disrespected. Several comments included:

• No wage increase is seen by nurses as disrespectful and unfair;
• Nurses have tempered their expectations but 0% increase is unacceptable;
• Nurses are the backbone of the hospital and treating them this way will not help with the Hospital’s much-needed turnaround;
• Nurses at Whidbey Health make less than comparable hospitals in the area;
• Nurse retention is very important, nurses are leaving the hospital to work places where they will feel more respected and be better paid;
• There are limited numbers of people on the island, many nurses have left to work off island, with better wages and still live here;
• Nurses are the best asset, retention needs to be encouraged, we need the resources to provide good patient care;
• It feels like administration wants to fix the financial concerns on the back of the workers, which makes nurses feel unvalued.
• We want a place to go to when we are sick, when our families are sick; we want this hospital to be successful;
• The hospital is always working in the short term – they bring in travelers who have no commitment to or ownership in the hospital, and who end up making more money than us.

Ron’s message after the nurses spoke was not substantial. He stated he came to the session as CEO, to “Listen to Learn.” He also mentioned that 76% of the employees are not engaged and the reputation of the hospital needs to change. He ended with “I have listened. I have to respect the process.”

An hour later, management returned to the table and stated they were standing on their existing proposal of 0% wage increase and a one-year contract.

We agreed to a Tentative Agreement (TA) on a few small language items. We were given a proposal on Staffing and Staffing Committee language.

We are going to need all of our co-workers to work together in solidarity in the coming weeks, to wear blue on Fridays, wear your WSNA badge pulls and WSNA buttons. Car signs are being circulated by the Negotiation Team members – put one in your car, give one to a neighbor, ask merchants to display them at their businesses. Talk to each other about the importance of being strong and supportive to the cause. Watch for possible Unity meetings or some other type of activity. We will let you know the date of the next negotiation session.

PTO donations reminder: We are counting on your help since every negotiation session we attend is unpaid. Our only options are to use our PTO or take No Pay to attend negotiations. Please support your team and donate some PTO. Any amount helps. Per the agreement, one hour is the minimum you can donate. Thanks to those who have already made donations! And, the unit that raises the most PTO hours will get a prize based on donations by unit/number of nurses, so smaller units have a just as good a shot at winning!

Donation forms are being collected by Gwen Parrick, Local Unit Chair. She can be reached at rsgsparr@whidbey.com.

In Solidarity!

Gwen Parrick rsgsparr@whidbey.com; Jeremy Aaron jaaron575@gmail.com; Laura Black tomnlaura@hotmail.com; Ann Bell anniebell66@gmail.com; Bonita Garcia bonniegarcia@hotmail.com; Dori Painter doripainter@gmail.com; Jessica Shaffer jessibaby1979@hotmail.com; Mary Meek mickeymousefan1308@att.net; Luka MacKay lukamackay@gmail.com; Lucylyn Sinette lucylyn.goense@gmail.com; Sarah-Lyn Clark sclark5186@yahoo.com; Michael Aube mmaubevt@yahoo.com


Questions? Contact WSNA Nurse Rep Terri Williams, MS, RN at twilliams@wsna.org.