The vote by Hawaii Nurses Association employees at Straub Medical Center to ratify a three-year contract eases some, but not all, of the labor tensions in the local health-care sector. Although leaders view the trio of annual 3% pay increases and other benefits as a “good start,” they vow to continue advocating for further improvements.

Let’s hope some of this progress filters over to Kaiser Permanente and its mental health professionals, who are now in their 20th week of a strike. A deal is overdue.