Tensions between the nurses union and management at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children escalated to a new level Monday after police arrested 10 demonstrators outside the hospital.

What started out as a peaceful demonstration, with a prayer just after 6 a.m., concluded midmorning with 10 people arrested for alleged obstruction of a public passageway for buses transporting traveling nurses to work.

The Hawaii Nurses’ Association and community activists said they were calling attention to the injustice of Kapi‘olani nurses being locked out when they want to return to work, while hospital executives say the demonstrators prevented patients from receiving care they needed Monday as talks were progressing.

The two parties, however, have agreed to continue talks today for a sixth straight day since the lockout began.

Those cited and arrested outside the hospital included recently elected state Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto, Democratic candidate for state House Ikaika Hussey and John Witeck of the Hawaii Workers Center.

In protest, they, along with several others, sat down, with arms linked, blocking charter buses filled with temporary travel nurses, from entering the hospital’s circular driveway off of Bingham Street.

Hundreds of nurses, meanwhile, chanted, “Scabs go home!” and “No justice, no peace” as the charter buses eventually proceeded straight down Bingham Street instead of turning into the driveway.

Iwamoto said she stood in solidarity with the HNA, representing about 600 nurses, to call attention to the indefinite lockout imposed by the hospital.

“What we hoped to do was to say, basically, ‘Unlock the lockout,’” said Iwamoto. “We wanted to say, ‘You have nurses that are qualified, trained and culturally appropriate, that have long-standing relationships with the community they are serving. Please, let them go back to work.’”

Iwamoto said she and the “Kapiolani 10,” as they are now called, were prepared to get arrested Monday morning to call attention to the nurses’ plight.

“I hope the community stands up and stands in solidarity with the nurses,” she said.

HNA held a one-day strike Sept. 13, the second time this year that hundreds of union nurses walked off the job. Kapi‘olani’s lockout has been in effect since Sept. 14.

The Kapi‘olani nurses have been working without a contract since December. Negotiations have dragged out for more than a year but seemed to have progressed. Monday’s demonstration occurred on the fifth consecutive day of scheduled negotiations between the two parties since the lockout began.

Disruptive to patients

Kapi‘olani Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta said during a news conference Monday afternoon that what happened “was disruptive and dangerous for our patients, staff and community.”

“The HNA says nurses want to care for patients, but unfortunately, their actions today showed otherwise,” said Ruscetta in opening remarks. “With HNA support, protesters blocked access to our medical center for more than two hours. The temporary nurses who are here to care for our patients were not allowed to enter the campus for their shifts. The buses for the temporary nurses tried to turn in to the hospital twice and were unsuccessful both times.”

As a result of this prolonged protest at the main entrance, she said, two expecting mothers in separate cars were forced to enter via the main exit driveway from farther away to check in for their deliveries.

“We know of more than 25 patients who were delayed because they had trouble getting to their appointments,” she said. “Others rescheduled their appointments. The driveway protest also prevented a surgeon from entering. We know of several dozen vehicles that needed to be rerouted to use the exit driveway to reach our campus.”

She said the temporary nurses eventually made it to campus to start their day shifts at 10 a.m. Monday, about three hours later than scheduled. The temporary night shift nurses stayed on until the transition could be made.

Kapi‘olani is still looking into the impact of the protest to scheduled surgery procedures, she said.

The Honolulu Police Department said officers issued several warnings to multiple people sitting and blocking the driveway to Kapi‘olani before issuing citations for obstructing public passage under Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 711-1105.

The 10 people who refused to leave were arrested and taken to the Alapai cellblock, HPD said.

HNA said in a news release that the community members sat down before normal business hours to minimize the impact on patients.

When asked, Ruscetta said Kapi‘olani did not request that anyone be arrested.

“We would never want anyone to be arrested,” she said at the news conference. “What we asked for was assistance. We were not able to get the group to disperse, and we asked for assistance.”

Civil disobedience

Hussey told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he considered the sit-down a form of civil disobedience in order to call attention to the injustice against Kapi‘olani nurses, and that he’s willing to do it again.

“I think about the values of Queen Kapi‘olani and how she dedicated her life and her resources to founding this hospital,” he said. “I think the queen would be very disappointed if she saw how her namesake institution has become anti-worker.”

Hussey said he and the others were handcuffed and taken to the main police station for processing on South Beretania Street. He posted $50 bail and was released.

Kyle Kajihiro, board president of Hawaii Peace and Justice, said he wanted to take a stand against the lockout, which he called an “anti-union tactic.”

“I think nurses are the front-line caregivers in our community, and if we’re not caring for them, what does that say about our society?” he said. “So I was there to show my appreciation for the nurses and what they do for us, and to stand with them in a time where they’re coming under attack. I think what’s so clear, the lockout is an attack not only on nurses, but against all workers in Hawaii.”

Iwamoto, Hussey and Kajihiro were arrested Monday, along with Witeck, a board member of the Hawaii Workers Center, and its executive director, Sergio Alcubilla.

The others arrested, according to HNA, include Cassandra Lynn Chee, Lori Treschuk, Nadezna Ortega, Yoko Liriano and Raymund Liongson. HNA lists Liriano as a labor relations specialist representing The Queen’s Medical Center.

Talks to continue

Monday marked the 10th day of the lockout by Kapi‘olani management. Kapi‘olani has said the lockout will continue until HNA unconditionally accepts management’s latest contract offer.

The nurses continue to say they are fighting primarily for safe staffing ratios that limit how many patients a nurse cares for at one time. When the number of patients increase beyond that limit, then additional nurses should be brought in.

Better ratios not only result in better patient outcomes, they said, but higher nurse satisfaction and improved retention.

HNA has also said the strike held earlier this month was an unfair labor strike to protest retaliation for nurses filling out safe-staffing forms. Kapi‘olani management has said there was no retaliation.

HNA has filed an injunction challenging the legality of the lockout with the National Labor Relations Board, but a decision is still pending, HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said.

The two sides have made progress in the past few days on a “staffing matrix” to determine nurse-to-patient staffing levels, Ruscetta said, addressing the nurses’ concerns. She said compensation, however, as of Monday remained an area of disagreement for the new contract.

HNA and Kapi‘olani were scheduled to resume talks at 10 a.m. Monday. Due to Monday’s morning’s events, however, the talks were pushed back to 1:15 p.m. and continued until just after 7 p.m.

“Disruptions caused by the Hawaii Nurses’ Association and protesters (Monday) morning impacted both patients and our scheduled negotiations,” said Ruscetta in a statement. “Nurse leaders on our negotiation team needed to prioritize patient care support, so we delayed (Monday’s) talks. Once our negotiations resumed, discussions did last until the evening.”

Both sides agreed to meet again today, she said.