McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center (MCW)
Oregon Nurses Association
(ONA)
Bargaining Unit Newsletter
Bargaining Update for Nurses
Feb. 24, 2017
PLEASE DONATE PTO
ONA/MCW
Executive Committee
Chair:
Kate Morris, RN,
Surgical Care Unit
Third Floor
Secretary/Treasurer:
Angie Kimani, RN,
Women’s Health & Birth
Center
Thanks to our
bargaining team
 Helen Collett, ED
 Angie Kimani, WHBCC
 Kate Morris, SCU
 Dana Pauls, ICU
 Assisted by ONA labor
reps Gary Aguiar and
Christine Hauck
ONA Labor Relations
Representative
Gary Aguiar, Ph.D.
[email protected]
503-444-0690
TO OUR BARGAINING TEAM!
Thank you to our negotiators, who collectively worked 372 hours on our behalf, including more than 200 hours
at the bargaining table. Nurses with at least 40 hours in their PTO bank may donate five hours to our team.
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT!
Friday afternoon deal addresses nurse staffing, PTO, 2.25 percent
annual increase in wages, 4.4 percent increase in differentials for
12-hour shifts, ban on use of social media in disciplinary cases.
On Friday, Feb. 17, our Oregon
Nurses Association (ONA) bargaining
team reached a tentative agreement
(TA) with McKenzie-Willamette
Medical Center (MCW) on a new
collective bargaining agreement. We
agreed to 46 changes in contractual
language across 13 articles and three
side letters. Major changes are
highlighted on page 3 of this
newsletter, and the complete “redlined”
version of the agreement showing all
language changes will soon be posted
on our bargaining unit webpage. Our
bargaining team heartily recommends
a “yes” vote on ratification.
Our main priority in bargaining was to
support and improve the nurse staffing
situation. We won clear language that
a meal is a period of time free from the
work environment. If a nurse is
interrupted during their meal period,
our new language empowers the nurse
to advocate for this time away from the
stress of work. We also won improved
language around floating, including a
restriction that nurses can only float
once during their shift, and a clear
Continued on page 2
Page 2
McKenzie-Willamette
Medical Center
Page 2
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT! (continued from page 1)
definition of “modified team” as fewer and/or lower
acuity patients.
Our TA includes strong language that social media
cannot be used to investigate or discipline a nurse,
which has happened frequently in the past. Meetings
which may lead to discipline must now occur face-toface between the manager and the affected nurse,
and the follow-up meeting, whether formal discipline
or informal coaching, must be held face-to-face as
well.
We also won a substantial victory for nurses who
work 12-hour shifts. Our TA requires that all
differentials be paid based on each nurse’s scale
(8/10 hour shifts or 12 hour shifts). In the past, all
differentials were paid at the 8/10 scale. Our new
language means that 12-hour nurses will earn their
scale’s differentials, which is a 4.4 percent increase
from our previous contract. Our TA also features an
advanced education differential—two percent for a
bachelor of science in nursing (BSN), three percent
for a master of science in nursing (MSN), replacing
the annual lump sum payouts—which puts us in line
with regional hospitals.
Our employer also agreed to continue negotiating
with us on two remaining issues. In Short Stay/
Endoscopy/Pre-Admission Testing (SSU/Endo/PAT),
we would like to increase the minimum number of
nurses who are granted earned leave requests at the
same time. In Women’s Health, Birth, and Children’s
Center (WHBCC), we would like to limit floating to
other units. We and the employer are obligated to
meet within 60 days of contract ratification to resolve
these issues. Members of our bargaining team will
join with nurse leaders from each unit to negotiate
with the employer on each issue separately.
We plan to hold a ratification vote on our tentative
agreement during the first week in March. Watch
your email for details. Only dues-paying ONA
members and fair share payers are eligible to vote.
Check your email for important information
about the ratification vote!
Only ONA dues-paying members and fair share payers
are eligible to vote on ratifying this agreement.
If you have questions about the tentative agreement, please reach out to
any member of our bargaining team, or contact Gary Aguiar, labor
relations representative, at [email protected] or 503-444-0690.
If you would like to vote and are not an ONA member, please go to
www.OregonRN.org/Join and join today.
Oregon Nurses Association | 18765 SW Boones Ferry Road Suite 200 | Tualatin OR 97062 | 1-800-634-3552 within Oregon | www.OregonRN.org
McKenzie-Willamette
Medical Center
Page 2
Page 3
TENTATIVE AGREEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
These are highlights from the tentative agreement reached on Feb. 17, 2017.
A tracker of all contractual changes is available at www.OregonRN.org/70.
STAFFING

“Meal break” clearly defined as time
uninterrupted by any work

Nurses can only be required to float once per
shift

When a nurse is floated, “modified team”
defined as fewer and/or lower acuity patients

Hospital can reorganize a unit every 18
months (instead of current 12)
social media in place of such meetings)
PAID TIME OFF (PTO)

Earned leave request: if no response from
management with 10 days, nurse may use a
new expedited grievance process to get a
response

Additional vacation day after 15 years of
service
WAGES

Nurses working 12-hour shifts can take meal
before seventh hour instead of sixth

All differentials based on position wage scale
(either 8/10-hour or 12-hour shifts)

Educational leave: broader definition of
experiences, 3,240 hours (instead of 300
days), total $30,000 (instead of $26,000)

Advanced education differential: 2% BSN,
3% MSN (instead of annual lump sum
payout)

Preceptor pay: 4.5% (instead of current
$1.35/hour)

Wages: 2.25% after ratification and 2.25% in
January of each successive year until the
contract expires on Sep. 1, 2020
SCHEDULING/POSTINGS

Full-time nurses can recruit resource nurses
to take a shift, once the resource nurse has
met their obligations and if there are no holes
in schedules

Resource nurses must sign up for five credits SUPPORT OUR
every month
BARGAINING TEAM!

Newly posted positions not greater than four
consecutive days for 10-hour shifts, and not
greater than three consecutive days for 12hour shifts

Newly hired nurses cannot transfer positions
for six months
DISCIPLINE

When managers investigate possible
discipline or actually discipline/coach, it must
occur in face-to-face meetings (cannot use

Within 120 days of ratification, nurses with at
least 40 hours in their PTO bank may donate
up to five earned leave hours to our
negotiation team
FUTURE

Letter of agreement to find solutions within
60 days for (a) floating from WHBCC and (b)
increasing number of time off requests
granted for nurses in Short Stay/Endoscopy/
Pre-Admission Testing
Oregon Nurses Association | 18765 SW Boones Ferry Road Suite 200 | Tualatin OR 97062 | 1-800-634-3552 within Oregon | www.OregonRN.org
Page 4
McKenzie-Willamette
Medical Center
Page 2
Thanks for your support,
which helped our team
win a strong contract!
More than 50 nurses at
McKenzie-Willamette took
selfies in support of our nurse
staffing proposals, and our
negotiators and contract action
team members posted the
photos in the bargaining room in
advance of our last session with
the employer. Furthermore,
nearly 40 nurses attended one
of our two bargaining sessions
last week. In total, more than 60
individual nurses attended at
least one bargaining session
since negotiations began last
October. Thank you!
Oregon Nurses Association | 18765 SW Boones Ferry Road Suite 200 | Tualatin OR 97062 | 1-800-634-3552 within Oregon | www.OregonRN.org