Published Wednesday, July 31, 2024 in Stanwood Camano News
Skagit Regional Health Comes to Tentative Agreement with Nurses
By Racquel Muncy
After 14 negotiation sessions over the past five months, Skagit Regional Health and its nurses reached a tentative agreement on a contract Monday.
The contract would affect about 600 registered nurses at Skagit Valley Hospital, its clinics and at Hospice of the Northwest.
There is a Skagit Regional Health clinic in Stanwood and one on Camano Island.
The nurses were represented in their contract negotiations by the Washington State Nurses Association.
Prior to Monday's bargaining session, there had been three major sticking points for the nurses — wages, a desire to have annual raises based on experience rather than hours worked, and retirement benefits.
According to an email sent out to the nurses, the tentative contract calls for them to receive a race of between 11.6% and 13.5%. Years two and three of the contract call for 3.75% raises.
According to the email, the contract also calls for raises to be determined by years of experience rather than on numbers of hours worked.
Under the contract that expired on May 31, nurses who are part time but have worked at Skagit Regional Health for 10 years may be considered the equivalent of nurses who have worked for five years.
Under the tentative contract, all nurses will be given raises based on their years of work as of Jan. 1, 2025.
The tentative agreement still needs to be voted on and ratified by the union members, which is expected to happen on Aug. 12.
The Skagit Regional Health Board of Commissioners will also need to approve the contract.