Posted on: Friday, December 27, 2002

Queen's, nurses break off contract negotiations

By Mike Leidemann and Curtls Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nurses and management at The Queen's Medical Center broke off contract talks late last night and there was no indication as to when negotiations would resume.

The two sides went back to the bargaining table at about 2 p.m. yesterday, the first time Queen's and the nurses had met since Dec. 18. But at about 11:15 last night, negotiations at the Hawai'i Employers Council Building stalled and the talks ended.

Hawai'i Nurses' Association spokesman Scott Foster said no new talks have been scheduled.

About 800 Queen's registered nurses have been on strike since Dec. 3.

Meanwhile, doctors at St. Francis Medical Center yesterday called for an end to a strike that has severely curtailed medical services there. Altogether, about 1,400 nurses from Queen's, St. Francis and Kuakini medical centers have been on strike for more than three weeks.

Both the resumption of talks at Queen's and the statement by the St. Francis doctors had suggested a new urgency in settling the strikes, which have disrupted patient services, reduced the ranks of nurses and support staff and financially battered the striking workers, as well as the hospitals.

But it was unclear what the break down in the talks last night would mean in terms of how much longer the strike would last.

"We would like everyone to remember the mission and goal of all medical professions — the care of the sick and dying," Dr. Jeffrey Lau, president of the medical staff at St. Francis said in a message addressed to nurses there.

Saying doctors could no longer be silent about the dispute, Lau asked both sides to move toward a settlement.

"Above all, patients have been denied access to the hospital of their choice, one that specializes in the care of their particular disease," he said.

While the medical staff "supports the nurses fully," there is a rising concern the strike has become "a union thing," Lau said.

"Picket lines, federal mediators who go home for the holidays and union regulations that do not allow nurses to vote on each proposal will not save patients' lives," he said.

There have been no negotiations at St. Francis since the strike began Dec. 2, and the hospital has severely reduced the number of its patients and canceled most surgeries. It also laid off more than 120 union and nonunion support employees in such areas as food service, maintenance and housekeeping.

St. Francis has also cut back on operations in its well-known organ transplant unit and, for a time, had to reduce services to about 1,000 patients who receive dialysis treatment as outpatients. The dialysis service has since returned to normal with the aid of replacement nurses.

"We value nurses and would like to return to the bargaining table with them; however, we still have our financial obligation to maintain the financial viability of the hospital," St. Francis spokeswoman Maggie Jarrett said yesterday, responding to the medical staff's statement.

Sue Scheider, collective bargaining director for the association, said St. Francis' "nurses have said from day one they'd be willing to go back to the bargaining table and have maintained their presence on the picket lines at great personal sacrifice in order to take a principled stand for patient care."

Early in the day, Queen's nurses responded heatedly to a full-page ad the hospital placed in Honolulu newspapers.

The ad, which was addressed to its nurses, said that "in this season of fellowship" it was time to again share its contract proposals.

"It's time to come back together," the ad said.

Also included in the ad was a large chart detailing the hospital's proposed salary increases for nurses at five levels of experience, ranging from $52,107 per year to $80,662 a year. The ad said the hospital had proposed wage increases ranging from 21 percent to 30 percent over the next three years.

Hospital spokeswoman Lynn Kenton said the ad was a way to ensure that Queen's nurses knew important details of the proposed contract. It was not intended for anyone else, she said.

"The ad was placed for nurses," Kenton said. "I think, again, this is an issue about getting the message to our nurses. Our message to the public has only been to ensure them that patient care has been taken care of."

Bill Richter, a Queen's nurse and negotiator, called the Queen's ad an attempt to divide the nurses and the nurses association.

"They are trying to put a wedge between the HNA and the nurses in general," he said.

No new negotiations were planned yesterday at Kuakini Medical Center.

Advertiser staff writer Mike Gordon contributed to this report. Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.