Washington Hospital Center Nurses

Your UNION Rights:

"A nurse called by the Hospital to attend a disciplinary meeting or investigatory meeting which could lead to discipline shall have the right to Union representation, which includes the right to interrupt a meeting that has already commenced to request Union representation. It shall be the nurse's responsibility to inform the Hospital that she/he wishes to have such representation".
- Refer to Contract ARTICLE 3.2 c for complete language about this important Union right.

Welcome to Washington Hospital Center Nurses

Fines? Not our union!

On 11/12/14 hospital management sent a mass email to nurses making claims about intimidation and penalties in the lead up to a possible strike. We take such claims very seriously. At the start of the bargaining session the nurse team asked for more information from the management team about these incidents of harassment so that we could address them directly. Our request was met with deflection and avoidance.

Let us be clear: our nurse Union has zero tolerance for harassment or intimidation of any sort – by union representatives or management. If you feel you have been mistreated, by anyone, please contact me directly. I will investigate and take appropriate action.

Regarding allegations that our union will issue fines for those who exercise their right not to strike: NNU has never and has no plans to ever fine nurses. In the past 4 years NNU nurses have carried out more than 122 strikes across the US, including two here in DC, and no nurse has ever been fined.

Negotiations have not ended. On Wednesday we made progress at the table and are looking forward to resuming bargaining Thursday and Friday. At this stage, allegations and rumors of fines may be intended to distract us from the real issues in these negotiations: safe staffing and fair pay and benefits.

We want our nurse union representatives to be doing work we all can be proud of – if you have been mistreated or feel you are being misled by anyone (union or management), please contact:

Stephen Frum RN 4H
Chief Shop Steward
NNU/MWHC
202 494 8083

WHC Nurses Overpaid? RNs say NO!

In recent days, many of us have been told that MWHC nurses are at the high end of the pay ladder in the area. However, based on data gathered by MWHC management, that characterization is GROSSLY INACCURATE.

This week, managers have been conducting meetings with nurses in attempt to confuse and divide us. They are providing data from a survey that they commissioned and which they hope will allow them to keep wages low in the region.

Do you think you are overpaid? When MWHC made over $44 million in profits last year and paid their president more than $1 million/year (an increase of 86% in two years), don't you think RNs are entitled to pay increases?

Area Base Hourly Rate Analysis

While WHC's salary range may be within the 75th percentile, the data conclusively shows that more than half of WHC nurses fall well below the area average.

RNs By Percentiles
25th	50th	75th
$33.83	$34.53	$36.48
1,091 RNs	52 RNs	731 RNs

(MWHC data, based on reported wages of 20 area hospitals.)

Nearly 62% of nurses at MWHC make less than the area average.
MedStar says the average hourly wage in the region is $34.94 - in our hospital 1,117 RNS make less than the average. That includes nurses up to step 12.
MedStar says the 25th percentile in the region is $33.83/hr - it takes a MWHC RN 9 years to reach the 25th percentile!
The "midpoint" of our wage scale is $38.87 - it takes an RN 16 years to get to the midpoint. No wonder only 1/3 of the nurses are at or above that point.

So, when your manager tries to explain that RNs at MWHC are overpaid, ask them who they think is overpaid.

Today your NNU RN bargaining team concluded its 15th bargaining day. Over these weeks, we have made many thoughtful proposals to address staffing, patient safety and RN retention. On October 22nd, the NNU RN bargaining team submitted our 17 page economic proposal. Management did not submit an economic counter proposal or proposal of their own that day, that week, or the following week. As management had brought no economic proposals to discuss, the bargaining team cancelled negotiations on October 30th and instead spent our day talking to RNs in the hospital. After a two week wait for a response to our 17 page proposal, management provided their 7 sentence counter proposal on November 4th.

Despite the fact that more than 300 nurses leave our hospital every year, management has not made any proposals which improve staffing or will work to keep RNs at MWHC.

Today we offered an 18 page comprehensive proposal, highlights below. The management lawyer told us they would respond on Monday.

Next week we will continue to bargain in good faith. In fact, we have offered to extend bargaining next week until Saturday at midnight.

Management will start agreeing to our patient centered proposals when they see that the nurses are willing to take action to stand up for patients. So please wear that union pin, ask the tough questions, tell your manager you want a fair contract, come to the next union meeting, advocate for improvements. We can do this together!

questions or comments:

Stephen Frum RN
4H
202 494 8083

Issue	RN Proposal	MedStar Proposal
Staffing	Mandatory Minimum Nurse to Patient Ratios Resource nurse without Patient Assignment	Continue Current staffing patterns
Low Census	Limit shift cancelations	Continue current practice of shorting nurse hours
Floating	$2/hr floating differential Increase number of Float Pool RNs	Continue current floating practice No differentials for floating
Wages	Raises for all Nurses 3% raise in 2014 2.5% raise in 2015 2.5% raise in 2016	Retention bonuses for completing steps 1,2,3 0.5% raise, only in 2016 No raises for Float Pool RNs No raises for nurses above step 31
Differential Increases	Nights: $0.35/hr Weekend: $1/hr Resource: $2.5/hr Floating: $2/hr	Nights: no raise Weekends: no raise Resource: $1.65/hr No Preceptor or Floating differential
PTO	Increase accrual rates	Continue current PTO accrual
Mandatory Competencies	Compensation for time and fees for mandatory competencies	fees for mandatory competencies RNs to complete mandatory competencies on their own time, in their own time.