Nurses from five hospitals have strike votes scheduled
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Nurses from five Hawai'i hospitals will begin voting Sunday on whether to authorize their union to call for a strike if ongoing contract talks fail to reach agreements.
The five hospitals — The Queen's Medical Center, Kapi'olani Medical Center, Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Kuakini Medical Center and St. Francis Medical Center — bargain separately with the Hawai'i Nurses Association. But each has a three-year contract that expires Nov. 30, covering a total of 2,500 nurses.
Kaiser nurses will vote first, on Sunday and Monday, at the Hawai'i State Teachers Association.
They'll be followed by Queen's nurses on Tuesday, and a Wednesday vote by nurses from Kuakini, St. Francis and Kapi'olani — all at their individual hospitals.
Negotiations are scheduled to continue this week and past the last voting Wednesday. But Sue Scheider, director of the Hawai'i Nurses Association, said union leaders are calling for the vote to meet a 10-day strike notification deadline before the contracts expire.
If the nurses' votes support a strike authorization, it does not automatically mean a strike would be called. But Scheider said an authorization vote is a powerful negotiating tool.
Scheider, who took over her job in January after spending 10 years working for nurses in the District of Columbia, said Hawai'i nurses and hospitals are far apart on several universal issues: mandatory overtime, pay raises, greater pay for senior nurses and retiree health insurance, among them.
News of the scheduled nurses' votes surprised officials at several of the hospitals yesterday, who said it represents a significant change from previous negotiations.
"Since the talks began (in October) we had our fourth meeting today," Kaiser spokesman Chris Pablo said. "What has consumed most of our time is the nurses explaining the over 400 amendments to the collective bargaining agreement, from wages to mandatory overtime to staffing ratios, etc. We're going over everything item by item. ... We're not finished, so we're quite surprised that they're taking a vote so soon when the negotiations aren't complete."
Kuakini spokeswoman Donda Spiker called the upcoming nurses' vote confusing. "We still have two more meetings scheduled after the vote date," Spiker said. "There's no impasse yet. What if something gets settled? We're still committed to negotiating in good faith."
Dale Reimer, director of women and newborn services at Kapi'olani Medical Center, said, "It is very different from what the experience has been in the past. The union presented us with a 48-page contract proposal so that means that there are many complex issues."
Like the other hospital officials, Queen's spokeswoman Gail Tiwanak said her hospital has plans should nurses — or any unionized employees — go on strike.
"Because we have several union contracts and employees, we have a policy and procedure booklet for strike planning," she said. "That book remains on the shelf at this time as we continue to strive for a mutually agreed upon contract by the end of the month."
Reach Dan Nakaso at 525-8085 or dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.
