Moloka'i nurses remain on picket line

By Tim Hurley
Advertiser Maui Bureau

An afternoon of talks involving a federal mediator failed to produce a settlement yesterday in the 10-day-old strike of registered nurses at Moloka'i General Hospital.

Nurses picketed Monday in a park near the entrance to Moloka'i General Hospital. Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser

Dino Fontes, picket captain for the strikers, said management offered a 3 percent raise in three increments over two years, while the union countered with a request for an immediate 2 percent raise in exchange for dropping its demand for bonuses of $350.

Five registered nurses remain on the picket line, along with a sixth nurse who was fired just before the walkout and is awaiting mediation. One registered nurse remains on the job.

The nurses have not received a pay increase in more than three years. Moloka'i's registered nurses are the lowest-paid in the state, making $25.10 an hour, or about $3 less per hour than their counterparts at The Queen's Medical Center.

Administrators say Moloka'i General loses about $2 million a year.