Nurses take a stand against chronic understaffing

Nurses at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital in Washington are engaging in a weeklong job action in which they are not taking voluntary overtime or extra shifts to show the hospital administration the need to expand its nursing staff. The nurses, who are represented by the Washington State Nurses Association, have been trying to get that message across all year while negotiating a new contract, but they have been met with ongoing illegal actions and the hospital's refusal to address chronic understaffing.

"The nurses at Tacoma General feel like we have to stand up for our patients and for safe patient care," says Renata Bowlden, a registered nurse at the hospital and a WSNA bargaining team member. "For nearly a year, the nurses at Tacoma General have been trying to address our concerns at the bargaining table, and we feel like we're not being listened to. Instead, the hospital has repeatedly disrespected us and violated our rights. We hope turning down voluntary overtime and extra shifts will demonstrate to management in a very concrete way that the nurses are being stretched too thin."

The 730 nurses at Tacoma General have been without a contract since December 2015, and in that time, they have gone to the bargaining table 15 times—twice with a federal mediator. The nurses say that instead of engaging in "fruitful negotiations," Tacoma General management has repeatedly made unilateral changes to working conditions, including restructuring units and making nurses "rebid" for their jobs.

In response, the nurses have filed 24 unfair labor practices against the hospital. The National Labor Relations Board is expected to take action against Tacoma General, which has violated the law by withholding nurses' annual "gainsharing" bonus, which provides nurses with annual cash bonuses of up to $2,000; limiting the way nurses get incentive pay for working extra shifts; forcing nurses to take on increased duties and increased patient loads; using surveillance of nurses' lawful picketing to discourage participation in union activities; and refusing to provide information requested by WSNA and necessary for bargaining.

"MultiCare Tacoma General's ongoing, flagrant violations of labor law are making it very hard to move contract negotiations forward," says Christine Himmelsbach, assistant executive director for labor relations at WSNA. "We want Tacoma General management to stop engaging in unlawful, anti-union behavior and come back to the bargaining table ready to engage in some serious negotiations."

The nurses are demanding that MultiCare put "patients before profits" and have pledged to continue to fight for national staffing standards and adequate time between shifts so they can provide the highest-quality care for their patients. The job action is having an impact, with off-duty nurses reporting having received hundreds of text messages begging them to come in.

[Adrienne Coles, WSNA press release]