Negotiations to resume at St. Francis
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
St. Francis Medical Center will return to the bargaining table with its striking nurses tomorrow at 9 a.m., a spokesman for the nurses union said yesterday.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
The hospital yesterday said it was willing to resume negotiations to try to resolve a seven-week strike by the facility's registered nurses.
St. Francis Medical Center nurses Maria Gallego, left, and Hime Leonida, right, were among those attending a news conference yesterday. Nurses say they are frustrated by the hospital's 4 percent wage-hike offer.
St. Francis officials issued a statement regarding negotiations after union officials said at a news conference yesterday that nearly one-third of the hospital's striking nurses will resign permanently if no new negotiations take place by next week.
Negotiators for the Hawai'i Nurses' Association said 106 full-time registered nurses have signed a letter saying they will resign permanently.
Nurses said they are frustrated that they have heard so little from their managers and have been offered only a maximum of a one-year contract with a 4 percent raise, while other local hospitals have agreed to three-year contracts with raises that total 20 percent to 21 percent.
St. Francis' executive officer, Sister Beatrice Tom, issued a statement saying that she is "eager to begin the healing process of reuniting the nurses with the rest of the staff so the organization can fully resume its mission of extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to the community."
Last week, St. Francis' striking nurses countered the hospital's offer with a three-year proposal with wage increases of 4 percent, 7 percent and 8 percent. At the time, hospital spokeswoman Maggie Jarrett called the proposal "outside of St. Francis' financial means."
Nurses at the three hospitals earn from $20.55 an hour up to as much as $38.86 an hour, which translates to an annual salary, before overtime, ranging from $42,744 to $80,829.
Meanwhile, nearly 800 striking nurses at The Queen's Medical Center will vote on a tentative three-year contract agreement tomorrow. If the contract is ratified, the nurses should be back on the job by Jan. 24, said HNA executive director Sue Scheider.
