1199NW State Nurses Sue Governor To Protect Patient Care

SEIU Healthcare 1199NW registered nurses today filed suit in King County to protect patient care and public safety in state psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, and schools for developmentally disabled and juvenile offenders.

Governor Gregoire’s proposed 2009-2011 state budget does not include funding for collectively bargained compensation and benefits for state nurses needed during a nursing shortage.  The lawsuit asks the court to compel the Governor to submit a revised state budget that includes the terms of the negotiated contract agreement.

In recent years, the state has faced an enormous challenge filling difficult vacant nursing positions.

Nurse vacancy rates in state agencies continue to be high at 12%. The persistent unfilled positions require the state to seek overtime volunteers and to hire outside agency personnel at significant and unnecessary extra cost. State nurses make between 9% and 14% less than their peers.

 “The state is paying more because of chronic short staffing, and our patients bear these costs,” said Marcy Johnsen, a DSHS employee and registered nurse at Fircrest School who works with developmentally disabled patients.

“We’re working with the state’s most vulnerable patients – developmentally disabled residents, mentally ill patients, and elderly clients,” Johnsen continues. “Adequate staffing is the difference between keeping our patients and staff safe from being assaulted, or from patients injuring themselves. Addressing this nursing shortage is key to taking care of our patients.”

 “These vulnerable patients and their families are counting on us to be their advocates. We’re speaking up for them because this proposed budget hurts our ability to have the registered nurses that patients depend on,” said SEIU Healthcare 1199NW President and RN Diane Sosne. “We place our patients at risk when we don’t have enough nurses. We’re facing tough economic times, but eliminating this collectively bargained funding will not provide the care or nurses they need.”

The suit, filed on behalf of 900 state registered nurses, alleges bad faith bargaining, breach of contract, and failure to follow the legal mandate that would implement the collectively bargained agreement. 


See the full text of our lawsuit here.