A strike by union nurses at two Queen’s hospitals on Oahu was averted Monday after a tentative agreement on a new, three-year contract was reached during the early morning hours.

The Hawaii Nurses’ Association and Queen’s management negotiated past midnight before reaching the agreement, averting a three-day strike scheduled to start at 7 a.m. at Queen’s two campuses in Honolulu and West Oahu.

“It was down to the wire,” said HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu. “After many months of negotiations, most of it was really down to the last four days. It was definitely urgent.”

Negotiations had been ongoing since mid-April, with growing tensions between HNA and The Queen’s Health Systems over nurse-to-patient ratios and other workplace issues. Over New Year’s most of the 1,900 or so HNA members voted to authorize a strike, and the nurses had their signs ready to go.

A federal mediator worked with the two parties over four consecutive days of talks that lasted for long stretches through the weekend.

The new contract must now be ratified by HNA’s members, with electronic voting to be held Wednesday. The nurses have worked without a contract since June 30.

Among the terms of the contract are a nearly 17% wage increase over three years, HNA said.

HNA also said the contract is expected to lead to improved staffing ratios tailored to the specific needs of units; enhanced recruitment and retention initiatives to ensure sustainable staffing levels; and renewed focus on employee well-being and registered nurse workload support.

“Together with HNA, we worked respectfully and diligently towards reaching an agreement that both The Queen’s Medical Center and our nurses can be proud of and support,” said Linda Puu, Queen’s chief nursing executive, in a statement. “We are extremely appreciative of the negotiating teams’ efforts and the assistance from a federal mediator. I believe this agreement demonstrates the benefits of our working partnership with HNA and what we can achieve when we commit to the shared goal of advancing nursing practice and promoting quality patient care.”

She added, “I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to our HNA partners for their willingness to talk through our challenges and goals as we look ahead to the future. It is my great pleasure to announce that we join HNA in supporting the ratification of the Tentative Agreement.”

Puu also offered words of support to nurses at The Queen’s Medical Center.

“I want to share my great appreciation for your talent, your compassion, and all that you do for our patients each and every day,” she said. “We went into these negotiations with a focus on crafting a contract that shows how much we care and includes tangible, meaningful support for the nurses at the heart of our care team. I am honored to lead this nursing team and look forward to what is ahead for us.”

In an earlier statement, Queen’s said it had offered pay raises of 13% over three years, making Queen’s nurses the highest paid in the state.

Last week, community members with the Hawaii Workers Center delivered a letter to Queen’s, urging leaders to negotiate in good faith with the union in order to avert a strike.

Agas-Yuu said staffing ratios prioritizing patient safety and the well-being of nurses were among the top issues to be ironed out.

“This tentative agreement shows the solidarity within the nursing community at Queen’s and our shared dedication to putting patients first,” she said in a statement.

HNA, however, urges union members to hold management accountable to the promises made on paper and to report any unsafe staffing.

“Every form, every grievance, every voice, matters,” said HNA in a social media post.

Talks, meanwhile, were still ongoing Monday evening for 159 nurses at Wilcox Medical Center, also with a federal mediator. Wilcox nurses voted to authorize a three-day strike, which was set to start today.

Hawaii Pacific Health operates Wilcox, the largest medical center on Kauai with an 18-bed emergency department serving as the isle’s primary stroke center.

Wilcox said online that it valued its nurses and that its current offer would give them across-the-board raises totaling 14% over about 45 months, along with enhanced longevity pay and an innovative staffing model.

Agas-Yuu said Wilcox nurses are particularly concerned about staffing ratios in the medical-surgical unit and want them to be the same as on Oahu.

“The nurses just really, with these ratios, hope to provide a better workplace environment for themselves as well as care for the patients,” she said. “Whether you’re on Maui, Kauai, or Oahu, it should be the same standard of care for everybody.”

HPH also runs the Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women &Children on Oahu, where HNA represents about 600 nurses.

Kapi‘olani and HNA reached an agreement last fall after more than a year of talks — after two nurses strikes, a lockout, and two rounds of intervention by federal mediators.

Paul Silva, an RN in Queen’s cardiac care unit who participated in negotiations, called the tentative agreement a “historic gain for Hawaii nurses.”

“This breakthrough reflects the collective efforts by the nurses of Queen’s, the only Trauma 1 hospital on the island,” said Silva in a statement.