After another round of negotiations Thursday, the nurses union and management at the state’s largest hospital for women and children in Hawaii still have no agreed-upon contract.
On Wednesday, management at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women &Children said that after receiving a second strike notice from the union, it was prepared to impose a lockout unless its offer is unconditionally accepted.
The Hawaii Nurses’ Association, which represents about 600 at Kapi‘olani, plans a one-day strike for Sept. 13.
Kapi‘olani executives Wednesday said after the strike, all registered HNA nurses with a contract that expired Nov. 30 would not be allowed to return to work.
“Just as the union under the law has the right to request a strike, we have the ability as employers to enact a lockout,” said Gidget Ruscetta, Kapi‘olani’s chief operating officer, at a news conference Wednesday. “That is by law.”
On Thursday the union condemned the lockout, calling it “dangerous” and “reckless” and saying that it intended to challenge the legality of Kapi‘olani imposing one.
“It is clear that HPH’s lockout is in retaliation for nurses announcing their intent to go on a one-day Unfair Labor Practice strike,” HNA officials said Thursday in a statement. “The strike was called to protest Kapi‘olani Medical Center’s ongoing bullying and retaliation for reporting unsafe staffing incidents and voicing their concern for patients’ safety. Under the National Labor Relations Act, it is illegal to lock out workers who are striking over unfair labor practices.”
Unsafe staffing occurs when too few qualified nurses are on a shift to adequately address the needs of each patient they care for, HNA said. Studies show this leads to worse health outcomes, including higher mortality rates.
“Instead of addressing the staffing needs for the good of our patients and community, Hawaii Pacific Health/Kapi‘olani has chosen to make the problems worse by locking out local nurses and bringing in underqualified replacement workers from the mainland,” said HNA.
Additionally, HNA said HPH, which operates Kapi‘olani, has the financial means to ensure adequate staffing.
In response, Ruscetta said in a written statement, “We are confident in our legal position.”
“The lockout is to encourage the nurses’ union to accept our fair and generous offer so we can move forward. Negotiations are ongoing and we remain committed to reaching an agreement for the benefit of our nurses.”
Although the two sides have not agreed to a new contract, HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said Thursday that there were some “really good conversations” and they are trying to schedule another session in upcoming days.
The two parties are aligned on about 12 issues, she said, but still disagree on staff-to-patient ratios.
HNA officials said the
latest strike was called due to retaliation for nurses filling out safe-staffing forms to document situations of inadequate staffing and training. HNA, however,
is willing to continue talks before then, they said.
“A lot could happen between now and then,” said Agas-Yuu.
