Labor Relations

WSNA – UW (Montlake) Negotiations Recap for March 16

Background

This recap details the first virtual session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and Washington State Nurses Association. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.

WSNA Initial Proposals

Full-Time Equivalent – The Union proposed that a registered nurse who is classified staff at .9 FTE be defined as full-time, such that salaries and benefits would not be prorated as they are for part-time nurses.

Staffing Concerns – The Union proposed that the Conference Committee would be notified by Hospital management if/when a unit/department has a nursing staff vacancy rate of ten percent or greater or if the number of travelers exceeds five percent of the nursing staff on the unit. Under this proposal, the Conference Committee would form a sub-committee within 14 days of notice of the vacancy rate. The sub-committee would meet within 14 days of the sub-committee being formed with the goal of adjusting staffing through recruitment, Incentive Shifts, and voluntary temporary increase in FTE.

Clinical Advisor – The Union proposed that when the numbers of new graduate nurses on a specific unit comprise five percent or more of the unit’s staff and those nurses have completed their formal preceptor period, the Nurse Managers and/or Charge Nurse would appoint a Clinical Advisor to provide additional clinical support. Under this proposal, the Clinical Advisor would not be considered as part of the staffing matrix, but would be available on all shifts to assist new nurses.

Security Personnel – The Union proposed that security personnel shall be posted at the rooms of all patients whose violent history demonstrates a potential risk, and that nurses would be free to decline caring for patients who they reasonably believe pose such a risk.

Safety Committee – The Union proposed that up to two RNs would be selected by WSNA to participate in the house-wide safety committee and that such participation would be on paid time.

Workplace Violence – The Union proposed that nurses subject to workplace violence would be provided paid time off with full benefits and benefit accrual until fully recovered from the physical and psychological injuries resulting from the violence, reduced by payments from worker’s compensation and disability benefits.

Bicycles – The union proposed that nurses who use bicycles to travel to and from work would not be charged any fees to use secure bicycle storage/lock-up stands or other facilities. 

Work Schedule – The Union proposed that the Employer would post work and on-call schedules at least 28 days prior to the scheduled period of work. 

Childcare Emergencies – The Union proposed unlimited use of vacation time off, sick time off, and unpaid time off for emergency childcare.

Per Diem Overtime – The Union proposed to add from an existing side letter into the body of the contract language that states that per diem nurses would be paid daily overtime for work in excess of the scheduled shift including work in advance of a scheduled shift.

Preamble – The Union proposed to strike Civil Service from the law reference.

The union proposed housekeeping edits only on the following articles:

  • Article 12 – Holiday and Vacation Leave
  • Article 15 – Sick Leave
  • Article 29 – Duration of Agreement
  • MOU Public Records Request
  • MOU Stand By

On the following provisions, the Union proposed to maintain current contract language:

  • Article 1 – Purpose
  • Article 2 – Nondiscrimination
  • Article 3 – Affirmative Action
  • Article 4 – Recognition/Employer
  • Article 5 – Association Representatives, Dues Deduction, Activities
  • Article 8 – Educational and Professional Development
  • Article 13 – Family Medical Leave and Parental Leave
  • Article 16 – Conference Committee
  • Article 17 – Employee Facilities
  • Article 18 – Corrective Action (Progressive Discipline) Dismissal and Resignation
  • Article 19 – Grievance Procedure
  • Article 20 – Seniority, Layoff, and Rehire
  • Article 21 – Posting, Transfer, Promotions, Reallocation
  • Article 22 – Worker’s Compensation Leave
  • Article 23 – Management Rights and Responsibilities
  • Article 24 – Performance of Duty
  • Article 25 – Complete Understanding
  • Article 27 – Savings Clause
  • Article 28 – Complete Agreement
  • MOU Rest Breaks
  • MOU Parking Citations for Nurses with Valid UW Parking Permits
  • Appendix I Class Specifications RN II And III
  • Appendix V Union Roster Reports Post Workday Implementation

UW Initial Proposals

Nondiscrimination – To reflect current law, the Employer added immigration status and citizenship as basis for discrimination against which employees are protected.

Union dues – The Employer proposed a web-based system through which the Union would submit dues authorization, thereby eliminating manual entry.

Employee files – To reflect current law, the Employer added an exception to records that may be removed from an employee file, for those related to sexual misconduct.

Family Medical Leave and Parental Leave – The Employer proposed clean-up language to clarify conditions and benefits currently available to employees regarding parental leave, leave due to family care emergencies, PFML, and FMLA.

Grievance Procedure – The Employer proposed to shorten from 30 to 14 days the timeframe the Association would have to submit a grievance to arbitration following a mediation impasse or a written declination of mediation. The proposal contained language regarding how expenses for arbitration would be handled, stating that each party would bear one-half of the fee of the arbitrator for an Award issued on a timely basis and any other expense jointly incurred incident to the arbitration hearing.

The Employer proposed housekeeping edits only on the following articles:

  • Article 3 – Affirmative Action
  • Article 4 – Recognition/Employer
  • Article 12 – Holiday and Vacation Leave
  • Article 15 – Sick Leave
  • Article 16 – Conference Committee
  • MOU Rest Breaks
  • MOU Parking Citations for Nurses with Valid UW Parking Permits

The Employer proposed to strike the following out-of-date MOU:

  • MOU Per Diem RN Wages

The next UW and WSNA bargaining session is scheduled for April 7 and will be held virtually.