SEATTLE — Nurses at Seattle Children’s Hospital will be holding an informational picket on Sept. 30. to voice frustration over what they say is the hospital’s lack of response in negotiations.
The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), which represents over 2,100 nurses at Seattle Children’s, will be hosting the picket outside the hospital on Sand Point Way.
According to the union, the nurses are fighting for several issues, including:
- Workplace violence prevention: Greater protections for nurses and patients against workplace violence, including moving swiftly on a pilot program to screen for weapons and enhancing security on the Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Unit.
- Hospital-wide break nurses: Not all units have break nurses, which means when nurses take a break, they leave another nurse with an unsafe double load of patients. Seattle Children’s nurses want dedicated relief nurses so that they can take the breaks they are legally entitled to without compromising patient care.
- Higher wages: Nurse wages at Seattle Children fall behind many other West Coast children’s hospitals.
- Increased sick time accrual: Nurses are proposing increased sick leave accrual so that they are able to take sick time without the fear of discipline or losing their jobs. Sick nurses should be able to stay home when they’re sick—and not endanger co-workers and vulnerable young patients
The union claims the hospital is not accepting any of its proposals.
KIRO 7 has reached out to the hospital for comment. Seattle Children’s sent us the following statement:
“Seattle Children’s deeply values and supports its workforce members and is committed to being a leader in compensation in the Seattle/Tacoma market.
As Seattle Children’s and the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) negotiate a new contract, WSNA has decided to hold an informational picket to communicate their positions. The informational picket is not a strike and does not impact patient care. All nurses or other workforce members participating in informational picketing are either not scheduled to work or are off shift.
Nurses at Children’s are vital members of the team, and we all agree that putting patients first is our highest priority.
While we cannot share the details of ongoing negotiations, we are committed to working collaboratively with WSNA in order to reach a fair agreement as soon as possible.”
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