The Hawaii Nurses’ Association this morning informed management at The Queen’s Health System of the official start date of its collective three-day strike on Jan. 13.

HNA said Queen’s was given its official 10-day advance notice that the strike is scheduled from 11 a.m. Jan. 13 to 6:59 a.m. Jan. 16 at the Queen’s Punchbowl and West campuses.

The union had initially intended to start the strike at 7 a.m. on Jan. 13, but adjusted the time after filing an updated strike notice.

“After months of negotiations and efforts to secure a fair contract and better working conditions, we are standing together to take a vital step toward ensuring our voices are heard,” said HNA in a social media post.

HNA, which represents more than 1,900 nurses at Queen’s, added, “This action is not taken lightly. It is a testament to our unwavering commitment to safe staffing ratios, competitive wages, and the resources we need to provide the highest standard of care for our patients.”

Over the New Year’s holiday, union nurses at both Queen’s on Oahu and Wilcox Medical Center on Kauai voted to authorize strikes protesting unfair labor practices.

The nurses at Queen’s have been working without a contract since June 30, and in negotiations for a new one since mid-April.

HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said safer nurse-to-patient ratios remain a top priority for the union, and that talks broke down in the last session over them. The union has filed a complaint of “regressive bargaining.”

“Queen’s has turned healthcare into a money-making operation that compromises the quality of care for our community,” said Agas-Yuu in a news release after the post. “Studies show the hospitals can be vastly improved with better staffing ratios. This is especially important for Queen’s which operates the only hospital and emergency department on the west side of Oahu.”

She added, “We don’t take the impact of a strike lightly. We also hope Queen’s takes their responsibility to properly staff and care for patients during the strike and try to avoid a strike altogether.”

HNA said during the upcoming strike, experienced nurses will not be available to provide adequate post-operative care for patients recovering from their surgeries.

Queen’s responded today, saying it is disappointed by the strike vote but that it has contracted with staffing agencies to provide “a sufficient number of licensed, and experienced temporary replacement nurses should a strike take place.”

Queen’s Chief Nursing Executive Linda Puu said despite 43 bargaining sessions with HNA, “we still do not have clarity on what the union truly wants.”

She said nurses have been offered pay raises of 13% over three years, making them the highest paid in the state. A nurse with five years of service would earn more than $144,000 annually for a three-day workweek.

Additionally, she said safe staffing is already a priority, and that Queen’s has offered to include its “staffing templates” similar to what the union agreed to with Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

Jason Chang, Queen’s President and CEO, told the Star-Advertiser, “We’ve always believed in safe staffing.”

“We follow ANA (American Nurses Association) guidelines,” he said. “We’ve been applauded by Joint Commission, Magnet, other national accreditation organizations, so we feel very comfortable with our staffing.”

Mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in California have not necessarily yielded better safety outcomes, he said, and in acute hospital settings, there’s a need to adapt to fluidity.

“So when a patient’s more acute, we add more staff,” he said. “And if patients are less acute we always drop to a minimum level. It never gets to a place that’s unsafe. So I stand extremely firm behind the fact that we are safely staffed at all times.”

The question is how to memorialize that into a document, he said, and he hopes to be able to reach a resolution with HNA at the next bargaining session.

Another session between the two parties is scheduled for this Tuesday, and a strike could still be averted should they agree on a new, three-year contract.