Posted on: Friday, December 20, 2002

Nurses call attention to safety problems

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

With no new negotiations set, striking nurses from three O'ahu hospitals plan to leave their picket lines this morning for a march and rally to emphasize their concerns about safe staffing levels.

"We want people to know how deeply committed the nurses are to this safe-staffing issue," said Cherie Raymond, a labor relationship specialist for the Hawai'i Nurses Association. "That's the major issue in this strike; that's why nurses are hanging in there so strongly."

Nearly 1,400 nurses from Kuakini, St. Francis and The Queen's medical centers have been on strike since early December.

Most of the other issues in the strike — mandatory overtime, sick-leave policies, retirements and salaries — are intertwined with staffing concerns, Raymond said.

"When there aren't enough qualified nurses, one issue leads into another," she said. "People are forced to work overtime, then they get sick, and they burn out and leave, and then there's a nursing shortage that keeps going round and round. That's why we are so insistent on talking about working conditions."

The rally also was planned to boost the spirits of the nurses, who are nearing the end of their third week on strike.

"It's been hard, with the duration of the strike and the disappointment so far at the bargaining table, especially at Christmas time," she said.

Negotiations this week at Queen's and Kuakini were suspended after both sides traded proposals with little movement. There have been no talks at St. Francis since the strike began.

"We're still open and willing to meet," Kuakini spokeswoman Donda Spiker said after nearly nine hours of negotiations with nurses there broke off early yesterday morning.

Spiker said the latest management offer addressed the union's two sticking points: paid overtime and health benefits for retirees.

The hospital offered to administer, but not pay for, a separate retiree health plan. It also proposed going to a maximum 14-hour work shift, using volunteers for overtime and turning to agency nurses if the slots weren't filled, Spiker said.

Nurses countered by offering to delay some proposed wage increases in order to help fund the retirement benefits, said Scott Foster, a spokesman for the Hawai'i Nurses' Association. The union's proposal also "dealt strongly with their priority staffing issues of reducing mandatory overtime and preventing additional uncovered shifts," Foster said.

Both sides said they were disappointed with the outcome and did not know when the talks would resume.

Nurses said they would begin their "progressive" march at St. Francis at 8 this morning, reach Kuakini about 8:30 a.m., then continue down Vineyard Boulevard to Punchbowl Street to join the nurses striking at Queen's (10 a.m.). The entire group then will walk to Thomas Square, where a rally with other labor union supporters will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Also yesterday, Maui Memorial Medical Center said it would be willing to hire striking O'ahu nurses on a per diem basis and provide airfare and housing for them while the strike lasts.

Foster said one long-term result of the strike may be the ultimate loss of nurses, especially at Queen's. Many of the nurses there are fed up with the hospital's "take it or leave it" position at the bargaining table, and the number who eventually leave could number in the hundreds, he said.

"The bottom line in this strike is about retention and attraction of nurses, which has to come through safe staffing language in the contracts," Foster said.

Advertiser staff writer Jennifer Hiller contributed to this report.