Labor Relations

WSNA – UW (Montlake) Negotiations Recap for June 18

Background

On June 18, UW reached a tentative agreement with WSNA on a successor CBA for UWMC – Montlake for the 2021-23 biennium. Highlights of the tentative agreement are below, and copies of each provision will soon be posted on the contract website.

Tentative Agreement Highlights

  • Wages
    • Bargaining unit members will receive an across-the-board increase of 1% on July 1, 2021 and 2% on July 1, 2022.
    • The RN2 wage scale will be increased 5% for recruitment and retention purposes. The RN 3 scale will be amended to maintain the RN3 scale at 8% above the RN 2 scale at each step of the wage scale.
  • Night Shift Premium
    • The night shift premium will increase from $4.25 to $4.50.
  • Standby
    • The standby premium will increase from $4.00 to $4.25 for employees working 30 or fewer hours of standby.
    • The threshold at which employees receive the higher premium of $6.25 will decrease from 50 to 30 hours.
    • The Employer may institute a voluntary standby program in the Perinatal Daily and Neonatal ICU starting in August 2021.
    • The parties agreed to mandatory standby in the Emergency Department.
  • Holiday Addition
    • Juneteenth (June 19) was added as an additional paid holiday.
  • Non-Discrimination Update
    • New language in the non-discrimination article aligns with new state law clarifying that discrimination based on race extends to traits associated with race (e.g. protective hairstyles).
  • Weekend Shift Definition
    • Parties agreed that the Employer will make a good faith effort to schedule two weekends out of four weekends in a schedule, not to exceed four weekend shifts. Unscheduled weekend is defined as a shift that is in addition to the nurses posted scheduled shifts after the schedule is posted and when the nurse is performing direct nursing care. Nurses that agree to work unscheduled weekend shifts shall be paid at double time the regular rate of pay.
  • Rest Between Shift Update
    • Nurses will qualify to receive the rest between shift premium if they do not receive 11 hours rest between regularly scheduled shifts.
  • Family Care Emergency
    • The child care provision was updated to include family care, including a definition for elder care emergencies in accordance with state law.
  • Work Related Injury Leave
    • Employees who suffer a work-related injury or illness that is compensable under the state worker’s compensation law may select time loss compensation exclusively or a combination of leave payment and time loss compensation, without any restriction (e.g. no longer deducting time loss insurance payments).
  • Layoff Seniority Definition
    • Paid or unpaid leave will no longer impact layoff seniority therefore employees who have taken leave (e.g. FMLA) will not have their layoff seniority adversely impacted for utilizing protected leave.
  • Scheduling
    • Language was adjusted to state that nurses with twenty years seniority are entitled to retain their shift length, but not unit, if they are assigned to a unit that changes their length of shift by greater than two hours. Nurses with ten years seniority are not entitled to shift length or unit.
  • Pre-scheduled Voluntary Overtime
    • New language was added for Pre-scheduled Voluntary Overtime, which the employer may offer after the schedule is posted. These shifts will be compensated at the rate of time and one-half the regular rate of pay plus an additional two hours of extra pay for the shift. The nurse shall receive the premium pay for a minimum work period of three hours. This pay cannot be bundled with call back.
  • Multi-Campus Floating Discussion
    • If SEIU 1199 and WSNA at UWMC-NW agree to participate, the parties will meet and discuss floating among the three hospitals. The purposes of the discussion are to increase development opportunities, staff satisfaction, recruitment and retention opportunities, and to improve patient care.
  • Voluntary Float Between Campuses
    • When there is low patient volume in a specific unit or department, management may float nurses who volunteer to do so between UWMC-Montlake and UWMC-NW for a float premium of $4.00. This premium will apply to nurses already receiving a premium for being in the float team and cannot be stacked with any other float premiums. Nurses will be reimbursed for mileage and parking at the second site per university policy.

Next Steps

Members of WSNA will vote on the tentative agreement. The voting outcome, along with a further summary of any agreement reached, will be posted once available.