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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 1, 2003

Talks set in nursing strikes at three hospitals

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nurses and management at Kuakini, St. Francis and The Queen's Medical Centers all plan negotiating sessions in coming days in a bid to end an increasingly bitter month-old strike, both sides said yesterday.

Talks at Kuakini, where 200 nurses have been on strike since Dec. 2, will resume at 10 a.m. Monday, hospital spokeswoman Donda Spiker said yesterday. The two sides there last met face to face Dec. 19, when nine hours of negotiations failed to produce an agreement.

Most striking nurses at the three hospitals took a break from picketing yesterday and planned to stay home today, said Scott Foster, a spokesman for the Hawai'i Nurses Association.

Nearly 1,400 nurses at the three hospitals walked off the job at the beginning of December in a dispute that centers on safe staffing levels, paid time off, retirement benefits and salaries.

There have been only sporadic, unsuccessful negotiations since then; the upcoming bargaining sessions mark the first time that all three hospitals have planned talks with their nurses at the same time.

At Queen's, where 820 nurses are off the job, negotiations are set to resume tomorrow morning.

It will be the third time since the strike began that the two sides there have met face to face.

The key issue at Queen's is paid time off, including sick leave, holidays and vacations, which nurses say are directly linked to staffing concerns.

Nurses and management from St. Francis plan to begin negotiations Friday. It will be the first such session there since the strike began.

St. Francis, where 340 nurses are out, said earlier this week it would begin re-instating some revenue-producing services that were curtailed at the beginning of the strike.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.