Posted on: Saturday, July 5, 2003

Wahiawa nurses offer new proposal

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Staff Writer

Striking nurses have submitted a new contract proposal to Wahiawa General Hospital management, a spokesman for the nurses said yesterday.

The strike enters its 10th week on Monday.

The proposal was introduced Thursday when the two sides met for the first time since May 14.

Scott Foster, spokesman for the Hawai'i Nurses' Association, said yesterday that the proposal will be discussed at the next scheduled session, at 5 p.m. Friday, at the Hawai'i Employers Council. Wahiawa General management could not be reached for comment.

Union members and management have said the two sides are not far apart on wages. But there are sticking points in the benefits package, including health insurance, increased pay for workers with higher seniority, and greater access to retiree benefits.

Sue Scheider, chief negotiator for the union team, said virtually every striking registered nurse has been offered other nursing positions. Nearly one-fourth of the bargaining unit's members have taken full-time permanent positions at other hospitals and facilities, according to Scheider, who said this was indicative of dwindling loyalty and patience in the dispute over wages and working conditions.

Two of the three hospitals where nurses went on strike late last year — Queen's, Kuakini and St. Francis — reached agreement on a new contract by the seventh week of walkouts there. The last reached agreement in the eighth week.

Before the strikes, O'ahu's "Big Five" hospitals — Queen's, Kuakini, Kaiser, Kapi'olani and St. Francis — paid nurses between $20.55 an hour and $38.86 an hour.

Wahiawa nurses earn $28.60 an hour. Both sides have said that about half of the nurses are full-time and the other half are part-time employees who work at least 20 hours each week.