UW – WSNA Montlake/Northwest Joint Negotiations Recap for May 12, 2025
This recap details the seventh session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the UW and WSNA Montlake & WSNA Northwest.
Union Initial Proposals
Article 9 – Salaries/Pay Items (Montlake contract) – The Union presented its initial wage proposal for the Montlake contract, which would increase all step values of pay table BJ, Range 02 by 6% on July 1, 2025, and an additional 4% on July 1, 2026. The Union also proposed a market adjustment increase of 2% to all RN2 salaries. Additionally, the Union proposed to eliminate the “ghost steps” in Table BJ, as well as to create an additional top step in Table BJ.
Article 10 – Premium Pay (Montlake contract) – In addition to their prior proposals for Article 10, the Union proposed to increase the shift differential rate for night shifts to be 18% of a nurse’s regular rate of pay. The Union also proposed increasing the preceptor pay rate to be 5% of a nurse’s regular rate of pay. Additionally, the Union proposed to update the definition of preceptor to be an experienced RN2 with a minimum of two (2) years of experience.
With respect to STAT nurses, the Union proposed to increase the STAT nurse premium for RN2s to be 15% over a nurse’s contractual hourly rate for every hour worked as a STAT nurse while also proposing to remove the additional Charge nurse premium of $2.50/hour for every hour worked as a STAT nurse. For RN3s, the Union proposed to increase the STAT nurse premium to 7% for every hour worked as a STAT nurse.
With respect to the weekend pay premium, the Union proposed to increase the premium to 12% over a nurse’s contract rate of pay when an RN works a weekend as defined in Article 7.5.
Employer Initial Proposals
Grievance Procedure (Montlake Article 20 & Northwest Article 17) – With respect to arbitration, the Employer proposed new language that would require the Union to contact the Employer to begin the arbitration scheduling process and provide availability to the arbitrator within 30 calendar days of the Union advancing a grievance to arbitration. The proposal would also require that the arbitration hearing date be scheduled for a date within 6 months of the date of the grievance being advanced. The proposal states that if the Union does not do either of these actions, the grievance would be considered withdrawn.
Education (Montlake Article 8 & Northwest Article 16) – The Employer proposed to remove references to straight time to align with their proposed move to an Actual Time Reporting pay model.
Article 30 – Nonpermanent and Intermittent (Formerly Per Diem) Nurses (Montlake contract) – The Employer proposed language updates around work shift provisions to align with its proposal for Article 7 – Hours of Work and Overtime. Additionally, the Employer proposed to update language and figures around premiums for nonpermanent and intermittent employees to align with current practice by adding the Cross Entity Float, Clinical Advisory, Resource Vascular Access, and STAT RN premiums.
Article 22 – Nonpermanent and Intermittent (Formerly Per Diem) Nurses (Northwest contract) – The Employer proposed language updates around work shift provisions to align with its proposal for Article 7 – Hours of Work and Overtime. Additionally, the Employer proposed to add the list of premiums and update certain premium figures that nonpermanent and intermittent nurses are eligible for to align with current practice.
The Employer also proposed moving language from Article 5 into this article, which states that an intermittent or nonpermanent nurse who is separated to request a meeting with a WSNA representative, Human Resources, and the manager of the department to discuss the separation action within 21 days of the action.
The Employer proposed to rollover the following MOUs and Side Letters in the Montlake contract:
- MOU – Parking Citations for Nurses with Valid UW Parking Permits (Employer’s Initial Proposal from May 8)
- MOU – Premiums at UWMC-Montlake
- MOU – Public Records Requests and Privacy
- MOU – Release Time (Employer’s Initial Proposal from April 24)
- MOU – Standby
- MOU – Voluntary Float between UWMC-NW and Montlake Campuses
- MOU – Voluntary Standby in the Perinatal Daily and Neonatal ICU Unit
- Side Letter A – U-PASS
The Employer proposed to strike the following MOUs in the Montlake contract:
- MOU – Early Recruitment and Retention Wage Increases
- MOU – Ground Rules Governing Negotiations for the 2023-2025 Agreement
- MOU – Pay Ranges for Registered Nurses
- MOU – Rest Breaks
- MOU – Salary Overpayment Recovery (moved to New Article XX)
- MOU – UW Medicine Pre-Scheduled Voluntary Double-Time Shift Incentive for Critical Staffing Needs
- MOU – Intermittent, Nonpermanent, and Represented Temporary Employees
- MOU – Meal and Rest Breaks for UWMC-NW
The Employer proposed to rollover the following MOUs and Side Letters in the Northwest contract:
- MOU – BSN Scholarship Program
- MOU – Open Shifts
- MOU – Voluntary Float Between UWMC-NW and Montlake Campuses
- Side Letter A – U-PASS
The Employer proposed to strike the following MOUs in the Northwest contract:
- MOU – Early Recruitment and Retention Wage Increases
- MOU – Pay Ranges for Registered Nurses
- MOU – Salary Overpayment Recovery (moved to New Article XX)
- MOU – UW Medicine Pre-Scheduled Voluntary Double-Time Shift Incentive for Critical Staffing Needs
- MOU – Meal and Rest Breaks for UWMC-NW
Next Steps
The next UW and WSNA bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, 2025 and will be held in person at the UDSB Gateway Building. This session will be held jointly with both WSNA-Montlake and WSNA-Northwest.