According to a union press release, these actions include:
- Ending mandatory overtime policies
- Retention bonuses for those who have continued working throughout the pandemic
- Incentive pay for those who take extra shifts
- Incentive pay and appropriate orientation for those who do extra work or shifts outside of their department
- Improving staffing levels by posting enough positions in all job categories and actively working to fill those positions
“We’ve heard near-unanimous agreement around the problem,” said Julia Barcott, RN, a critical care nurse in Toppenish and union leader. ”That’s great. But only one voice in this conversation has the ability to immediately begin fixing this problem, and that’s the hospitals. It’s past time we saw meaningful action and policy changes from them, for the sake of our frontline workers and for patients and families across the state.”
