SEATTLE — This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com
Registered nurses with Seattle Children’s Hospital will be voting Sunday and Monday on whether to go on strike, in what the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) called “a last resort.”
The vote comes on the heels of 32 sessions, an informational picket, a full-page advertisement in The Seattle Times, and a video on social media by Seattle Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson that urged the hospital to bargain in good faith, WSNA announced.
“We don’t want a labor dispute. We don’t want to strike. We want a fair contract that protects nurses’ legal rights, ensures patient safety, compensates nurses injured by workplace violence, and maintains the union strength that has made this institution exceptional,” the nurses wrote in a full-page ad in The Seattle Times.
Wilson expressed her support for a fair contract for the nurses by posting on social media on Dec. 12.
“I am calling on Seattle Children’s to step up and do right by nurses, their patients, and our entire city,” Wilson wrote in the social media post. “In Seattle, we stand with nurses.”
Nurses’ labor union votes to authorize strike
After meeting with members of the bargaining team on Dec. 14, the WSNA’s Labor Executive Council authorized the strike vote.
“Nurses at Seattle Children’s are vital members of the team and play an important role in providing the highest level of care to patient families,” a Seattle Children’s spokesperson told KIRO Newsradio.
The WSNA has also received public support from eight WA legislators, local labor partners, and the former medical director of Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. Benjamin Danielson. Additionally, more than 1,100 nurses attended the informational picket on Sept. 30.
Nurses are asking hospital leadership to restore the organization’s values of antiracism, the mutual benefit of a strong and organized nurses’ union, and uninterrupted breaks so nurses can rest, hydrate, and eat.
“Seattle Children’s remains dedicated to working collaboratively with the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) to reach a fair agreement as soon as possible,” a Seattle Children’s spokesperson told KIRO Newsradio.
Despite the hospital claiming it is dedicated to reaching a fair agreement, WSNA stated that Seattle Children’s had brought in lawyers from one of the largest antiunion law firms in the country to strip nurses of existing rights.
WSNA also revealed that progress has been “excruciatingly slow,” as the hospital typically waited until the evening to send its proposals, even though nurses had been ready to bargain since 9 a.m.
WSNA claimed that it took 28 bargaining sessions for Seattle Children’s Hospital to agree to keep the existing language that “Racism has no place at Seattle Children’s.”
Nurses have also been told that their requests for market wages, break relief, and investments for improving nurse health and patient safety are unreasonable. This has prompted the nursing staff to wear T-shirts that read, “Proudly unreasonable.”
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