Queen's nurses talks break down
Advertiser Staff
Labor talks between striking nurses and The Queen’s Medical Center broke down early today as the walkout there entered its third week.
Negotiations, which began at 3 p.m. yesterday, ended in “stalemate” at 1:30 a.m., according to the Hawai‘i Nurses Association, which has been bargaining on behalf of nurses striking at three hospitals.
A Queen’s spokeswoman, however, today said the hospital expects “that talks will resume soon.”
Nearly 1,400 nurses are on strike, including about 800 at Queen’s. Nurses are also striking Kuakini and St. Francis medical centers and began their walkout one day earlier than at Queen’s.
The nurses negotiating team for Queen’s presented a proposal to management about 4:30 p.m. yesterday. At 8 p.m., management returned with a counter proposal that included things the striking nurses have never accepted, the association said.
The Queen’s offer included language referring to “paid time off,” which has been a key sticking point between the two sides and “one of the primary causes of the current strike,” the association said. The offer also included new language that the association said today was nearly caused a strike during the negotiations on their contract three years ago.
The nurses came back once more with another proposal yesterday and that was also rejected by Queen’s management.
“Queen’s management offered us no additional proposals and stated that they had ‘no interest in modifying their position,’” said Queen’s nurses representative Bill Richter. “Management basically said ‘Take it or leave it.’”
Lynn Kenton, spokeswoman for Queen’s, today said the hospital still considers itself at the negotiating table.
“It has not been discussed as to when we will go back,” Kenton said. “We are reviewing the proposals from last night and meeting to discuss how we can continue these talks and come to a resolution and bring our nurses back to work.”
Meanwhile, negotiations resumed yesterday between nurses and management at Kuakini, but there was little progress, the association said. A federal mediator is still working with the two parties, which resume negotiations at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
“Yesterday, the HNA asked Kuakini to consider some increases or changes to our best and final offer from Sunday Dec. 1,” said Kuakini spokeswoman Donda Spiker. “They wanted us to think about it. We don’t know what is going to happen though until the next negotiating session.”
No talks are scheduled at St. Francis, said hospital spoksewoman Maggie Jarrett. Three St. Francis nurses, however, left the picket line today to help with a kidney transplant operation under a “patients first” agreement worked out over the weekend.
Contract issues vary from hospital to hospital, but include concerns over safe staffing levels, paid time off, retirement benefits and salaries.
Earlier this month, nurses at O‘ahu’s two other major medical centers, Kaiser and Kapi‘olani, approved new contracts that raised the pay for a nurse with two years experience to more than $30 per hour.
