The Hawaii Nurses’ Association and Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women &Children had yet to reach agreement on a new contract Sunday, but did agree to conditions that will keep nurses from losing benefits today and the hospital from worrying about interruption of services.
Negotiations between
the parties wrapped up at
10 p.m. Saturday, the third straight day of negotiations with the assistance of federal mediators. Negotiations did not take place Sunday, a day off for federal mediators. The next meeting date was pending.
The nurses did not picket at the hospital Sunday, but joined UNITE HERE Local 5 members in their demonstration at the Hilton
Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. More than 1,800 unionized hotel workers went on an open-ended strike at the resort Tuesday, seeking higher wages and benefits as well as proper staffing and workloads.
“We have agreed to extend medical, dental and vision benefits for our nurses after Sept. 30 based on the Hawai‘i Nurses’ Association’s acceptance today of the terms Kapi‘olani outlined in our letter to the governor,” Kapi‘olani’s chief operating officer, Gidget Ruscetta, said Saturday in a statement.
Rosalee Agas-Yuu, president of the Hawaii Nurses’ Association, said in a statement that the 600 nurses represented by the union have “agreed to use a federal mediator to ensure the negotiations are ongoing and productive; continue to bargain in good faith; and continue peaceful negotiations and not to disrupt access and services to the hospital for employees, temporary workers, vendors and visitors.”
The nurses union and
Kapi‘olani began working with a federal mediator Thursday to help resolve their dispute after they were urged to do so by Gov. Josh Green and state Attorney General Anne Lopez.
Tensions heated up after roughly 600 nurses represented by the Hawaii Nurses’ Association were locked out from returning to work Sept. 14 following a one-day strike. On Sept. 23, Honolulu police arrested 10 demonstrators for blocking buses filled with replacement travel nurses from entering the hospital.
Kapi‘olani nurses have been working without a contract since December, and negotiations have dragged out for more than a year. They held a one-week strike in January. A federal mediator was called in to work with both parties in May, but those six earlier meetings did not resolve the dispute.
The union contends that staffing ratios are a key point of contention and that the nurses simply want parameters in place to safely care for their patients. Hospital executives have said flexibility, rather than fixed ratios, is necessary to adjust to patients’ needs by the hour and the level of care needed.
State Department of Health officials, meanwhile, confirmed that two anonymous complaints regarding Kapi‘olani have been filed with the Office of Health Care Assurance.