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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, December 29, 2002

Queen's nurses talk strategy at meeting

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

As their strike closed in on its first month, about 200 Queen's Medical Center nurses met at the Blaisdell Center yesterday to discuss strategies after negotiations last week ended without movement toward a contract.

The meeting ended in an angry buzz as the nurses talked about a full-page ad the medical center management purchased in both of Honolulu's daily newspapers on Thursday morning, and about information contained in a press release circulated by Queen's after negotiations again broke down on the day after Christmas.

"Twice in the last month," said Caroldean Kahue, nurses chief negotiator, "the hospital has dealt directly with our members, giving them misinformation and proposals that differed from what has been exchanged at the bargaining table."

The Queen's advertisement published in the Advertiser on Thursday did not accurately reflect the incremental steps discussed at the bargaining table, she said.

Queen's spokeswoman Lynn Kenton said the salaries were the same as those proposed to the nurses before the strike. The hospital has since asked, Kenton said, that the salaries be applied in six-month increments to offset the cost of the strike.

Kahue said the nurses had agreed to the wage package, but Queen's had insisted it be tied to a proposed "paid time off" or PTO program. The nurses oppose that program, which combines sick days and vacation days into a single pool, because they say it would force sick nurses to use vacation days for illnesses.

Queen's officials say the package rewards nurses with perfect attendance by adding to their scheduled time off.

Queen's nurse Liz Clabin said she had been at several negotiations sessions, and in her opinion, the Queen's negotiators had refused to leave room for discussion of the key issues.

"We have no evidence they are there to reach a settlement," Clabin said. "It is a take-it-or-leave-it package every time."

Kenton said Queen's negotiators went into the last session fully prepared to reach an agreement.

Several of the nurses said the failure of the last negotiations has galvanized them and made them more determined to succeed.

Courtney Lin, a nurse on the Queen's communications team, said the nurses are trying to counter the Queen's advertisement by running programs on 'Olelo, including a program that will be broadcast at 3 p.m. today.

A group called Friends of Hawai'i's Professional Nurses is also raising money that will go toward paid advertisements, she said.