September 2023 Update: Upcoming Trainings on Our New State Staffing Law – JOIN US!
Union health care workers fought hard for a new staffing law in Washington, and we celebrated together when it passed. Now we’re preparing for the first stages of successful implementation. To get the most out of this statute and hold hospital management accountable for safer staffing, it’s going to require knowledgeable and empowered nurses and other health care workers in every department, on every shift, at every hospital. Here’s how we’re going to get there, together:
September 1, 2023:
The state Hospital Staffing Advisory Committee has been established and will meet monthly. Among its first tasks is development of a uniform hospital staffing plan form. This committee comprises health care workers and hospital representatives.
January 1, 2024
Staffing committees must be established under the new law. These will include RNs, LPNs, CNAs,and other direct patient care staff. 50% of the voting members must be nursing staff.
July 1, 2024
New staffing committee charters—covering processes for meetings, attendance, electing co-chairs, reviewing complaints, etc.—must be filed with Dept of Health (DOH). Proposed staffing plans are due to hospital management.
January 1, 2025:
Every hospital must submit a final staffing plan to DOH.
July 1, 2025:
Hospitals must implement the new approved staffing plans by this date, and begin reporting noncompliance to DOH whenever they fail to meet at least 80% compliance that month.
GET EDUCATED – GET INVOLVED!
Joint SEIU 1199NW / UFCW 3000 / WSNA Trainings in 2023-24:
All trainings will be online, relevant to where we are in the statewide rollout of the staffing law, and whenever possible will be recorded and shared for those who cannot attend live. Contact a representative or organizer from your union to learn more about signing up!
October 19, 2023: In-depth training for current staffing committee co-chairs and members. Current staffing committee members! RSVP for this training here:
December 2023: Training for all interested members on everything you need to know about staffing committees and the new staffing law
February 2024: Training on negotiating your best possible staffing plan
Late 2024: Training on compliance and accountability through your staffing committee
MEMBERS ARE SAYING:
“The safe staffing bill has many tools we can use to help immensely with safe staffing. I am deeply passionate and excited to learn more and to get to work, and I invite all my fellow healthcare workers to join me.”
—Craig M. White, RN/PCCN, Providence Everett
“My coworkers and I spent a lot of energy advocating for this law to pass, so we’re certainly going to learn how to enforce it to the fullest. The big hospitals have a lot of money and a lot of resources to figure out the staffing models they think are best, and we’ll need to match that with knowledge of the law and union power.”
—Edna P. Cortez, RN, Seattle Children’s
“We know that our unity is our strength in every challenge we face, and the work it will take to successfully implement our safe staffing bill is no exception. Working together across all three of our healthcare unions is how we’re going to kickstart a culture of safety in our hospitals and hold our employers accountable to ensure compliance. As a member of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, I’m proud to continue working collaboratively with my WSNA and UFCW 3000 siblings to create a united front and tackle the next piece of our implementation plan: healthcare workers’ education.”