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Nurses' strike at Honolulu hospital continues amid contract talks

A federal mediator is brought in to help negotiate a settlement between striking workers of a hospital in Honolulu and its management.

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<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8vk-gcSdggU?&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>A medical workers’ strike at a hospital in Honolulu stretches to March, months since employees and management began talks for new contracts, much to no resolution. Some nurses at the Kapiolani Medical Center have been working without a contract since December, after the said negotiations got underway in September. Both parties have now agreed to bring in a federal mediator to try and negotiate a settlement.Tensions between the two parties heightened when the nurses went on a week-long strike in January. Roughly six hundred unionized workers went on protest, pushing for a minimum patient-to-staff ratio and no mandatory overtime.“We just don&#x27;t have enough nurses,” said Filipino-American Alyssa Corpuz, who works at the hospital. “We usually staff enough to take care of the patients that we have, but that doesn&#x27;t account for sick calls, for days that are low staff. So, we have to come in early to cover those assignments, and they have to find all that coverage.” Nurses also shared their concerns about being overworked due to staffing shortages. They urged the hospital to hire more personnel, especially to look out for critically-ill infant patients.“We want to be able to be there for all of our patients,” said MJ Quinto, another Fil-Am nurse. “It&#x27;s hard to do that if you have over four to five patients and you have an advanced (pediatric) patient that needs one to one care. I can&#x27;t be with the rest of my patients. I think that&#x27;s unsafe.”In a statement, the hospital’s chief operating officer said they remain committed to providing quality care as the negotiations continue. “We greatly appreciate our nurses for the work they do and the impact they have on our patients,” said Gidget Ruscetta.Kapiolani Medical Center is the only full-service women’s and children’s hospital in Hawaii and in the Pacific Basin. The hospital runs two 12-hour shifts with each shift averaging about 140 nurses. “We lost a lot of staff during COVID and they never replaced the staff in the three years that we had a mass exodus of nurses,” said Corpuz. “The census stays high, but the amount of nurses stays low and for us, that&#x27;s a low that we can&#x27;t handle for most of our shifts.”The Hawaii Nurses’ Association testified this month to the legislature on proposed changes for work standards with a push for mandated patient ratios.  Bill SB-1580 would address exactly that, along with requiring hospitals to create staffing committees and staffing plans as well as establishing breaks and overtime provisions for healthcare personnel.  Meetings with the union and the mediator will continue to take place this month.

A federal mediator is brought in to help negotiate a settlement between striking workers of a hospital in Honolulu and its management.

Nurses' strike at Honolulu hospital continues amid contract talks

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Nurses' strike at Honolulu hospital continues amid contract talks

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Lalaine Ignao | TFC News Hawaii

Published Mar 13, 2024 05:14 PM PHT

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United States

Hawaii

Honolulu

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Labor

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