The Maui County Council has passed a resolution urging Maui Health to negotiate in good faith with its workers to secure a fair contract to improve wages and establish safe staffing.

The resolution, introduced by West Maui Councilmember Tamara Paltin, passed unanimously Tuesday, with one member excused.

Negotiations between Maui Health and the United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii, which represents more than 900 workers, have been ongoing since July. The union contract expired Sept. 30.

The resolution’s passage comes on the heels of a three-day strike earlier this month by hundreds of workers at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital after talks broke down over staffing ratios.

The union says that Kaiser, which is “the gold standard for healthcare nationwide,” took over management of Maui Health in 2017, along with promises to elevate care standards, but “has not kept its promises to Maui and Lanai residents.”

The health care workers at Maui Memorial are covered by separate contracts from other KP health care workers in the U.S., the union said, and are not only getting lower wages and benefits, but working under lower care standards, resulting in high turnover.

Nurses at Maui Memorial Medical Center, the resolution noted, face a substantial pay disparity, with some making as much as 20% less in wages than their counterparts at a nearby Kaiser facility.

With a housing crisis exacerbated by the August 2023 wildfires, it has been increasingly difficult for health care workers to live on Maui. Furthermore, the resolution said, “safe staffing ratios are imperative to the well-being of patients and nurses.”

It urged Maui Health to provide the workers with a fair contract, with certified copies of the resolution to be sent to Gov. Josh Green; Hawaii Department of Health Director Dr. Kenneth Fink; Maui Mayor Richard Bissen; and Lynn Fulton, CEO of Maui Health, along with the heads of Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital.

Paltin asked that the resolution be amended to also send a certified copy to Greg Adams, CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, in Oakland, Calif.

Josh Masslon, an ICU nurse, testified before the council Monday that numerous delays and roadblocks continue, including Kaiser’s refusal to include safe staffing ratios in the contract.

These ratios, he said, directly impact care quality, safety, and overall health outcomes — and are the same ratios Kaiser has already agreed upon in California.

“It is deeply unacceptable and unsettling for Kaiser to prioritize patient safety standards in one state while denying the same protections to Maui’s community,” he testified. “Our people deserve equitable treatment, and we should have the support and resources necessary to provide that care.”

Jennifer Rosenblad, an ER nurse at Maui Memorial, said since 2017 there has been a steady push for nurses to do more with less, and a decline in standards.

“We are constantly working short staffed, workplace violence against health care workers has become rampant, we are down 1-4 nurses, sometimes more, every single shift in the Emergency Room,” she said.

Maui Health said in a statement that it is committed to reaching a fair and timely agreement, and has bargained in good faith to reach over 25 tentative agreements so far.

Its current offer of across-the-board wage increases of 18%, in addition to other pay increases over four years, closes the gap between Maui Health wages and Kaiser Permanente wages. With other wage increases, including longevity, some job classifications will get a 27% bump over the life of the contract.

Additionally, Maui Health said the “safe staffing ratios” the union is proposing are already in place.

The “variable staffing” model its team proposed was developed in partnership with union members, including nurses and nurse leaders, and would use an “acuity tool” to ensure staffing decisions are driven by real-time patient data.

This model ensures flexibility, Maui Health said, and allocates staffing based on patients’ changing needs.

“Unfortunately, the union continues to demand that inflexible, fixed ratios be mandated as the sole determiner of staffing, which does not account for other factors critical to safe patient care,” said Maui Health. “This kind of rigid staffing is not mandated in any hospital across Hawaii and works against the needs of our island healthcare system and the communities we serve.”

Masslon was pleased with the resolution’s passage.

“The passage of the resolution gives me some hope that Kaiser and MHS will do the right thing, honor their stated mission, and agree to safe staffing with fair wages,” he said.

The union represents hundreds of Maui health care workers, including registered nurses, physical therapists, imaging techs, and more.

The next bargaining session is confirmed for Dec. 11, Maui Health said.