Most of the 140 nurses at Wilcox Memorial Hospital have voted not to ratify a contract settlement offered by the hospital sending the message they are ready to strike as soon as June 24. Negotiators with the Hawaii Nurses Association
Most of the 140 nurses at Wilcox Memorial Hospital have voted not to ratify a contract settlement offered by the hospital sending the message they are ready to strike as soon as June 24.
Negotiators with the Hawaii Nurses Association and Wilcox Hospital failed to resolve staffing and patient safety issues. Some 89 percent of the nurses voted on Tuesday not to ratify a final contract settlement.
HNA has issued a 10-day strike notice that could result in registered nurses and licensed practical nurses hitting picket lines at 7 a.m., June 24, if the issues are not resolved.
The issuance of the notice doesn’t preclude both sides from returning to the bargaining table, said Claudine Tomasa, a labor specialist with HNA and a registered nurse.
“We remain hopeful of being able to talk with Wilcox Hospital and HPH negotiators, and remain open to solutions and ways of working this out,” said D. Q. Jackson, a spokesperson for the HNA bargaining team.
The negotiation teams are scheduled to meet again at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Jackson said.
Wilcox Hospital is part of the Hawaii Public Health system, which consists of two other hospitals on O‘ahu.
In an e-mail, Wilcox Hospital leaders said of the Tuesday vote: “The Hawaii Nurses’ Association has informed Wilcox Memorial Hospital of its intent to strike on June 24, 2006, at 7 a.m. We are very disappointed to receive the strike notice, because we value our nurses and are being as generous as we possibly can. As Kaua‘i’s main provider of health care, we are committed to ensuring that patient services continue in the event there is a strike. We are still hopeful, however, that the nurses will not go on strike and that a settlement can be reached through the negotiation process.”
Wilcox Hospital leaders said in the e-mail that they have offered concessions.
“Among other things, we have offered our nurses a 21 percent wage increase over three years, giving them parity with nurses on O‘ahu in the Hawaii Pacific Health network.”
Regarding staffing concerns, “Wilcox does have an acuity system in place and the staffing levels are excellent,” Wilcox officials said.
Patient safety and care are always a priority at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, officials said.
“The hospital is working hard to ensure that patient care for all of our residents on Kaua‘i can continue without interruption,” hospital officials said.
HNA officials said in a news release “the nurses of Wilcox and the HNA did not come to this conclusion (the call for a strike) lightly.”
“This decision was motivated solely by the nurses’ drive to ensure quality health care for the patients of Kaua‘i,” union officials state in the release.
HNA said it has “done everything possible to avoid this circumstance (the call for a strike).”
“HNA has dutifully met with Wilcox for seven weeks, in order to diplomatically resolve our issues,” the HNA release states.
“On May 17, Wilcox and Hawaii Pacific Health officials walked out of a negotiation session at the hospital and unilaterally canceled an entire week’s worth of negotiations, in spite of the nurses’ repeated requests to continue negotiations,” the release continues.
HPH is a non-profit healthcare organization that formed with the merger of three longtime healthcare systems: Wilcox Health on Kaua‘i; Kapiolani Health on O‘ahu; and Straub Clinic & Hospital on O‘ahu.
Wilcox Health consists of Wilcox Hospital and Kauai Medical Clinic.
On Tuesday, June 6, 85 percent of the Wilcox nurses authorized HNA to call for a strike, if necessary, union officials said.
“A strike vote of that overwhelming magnitude has never been seen before in the history of HNA,” union officials said.
Because of the gravity of the situation, HNA, at the request of Wilcox, conducted a final ratification vote at Wilcox Hospital from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. June 13.
“After reviewing the final package, the percentage of nurses voting to reject the employer’s proposal increased to an astonishing 89 percent,” HNA said.
HNA officials said the union requires a minimum of 80 percent of all eligible nurses to vote “yes” to a strike action before HNA will even consider a strike.
Wilcox nurses last went on strike in 1975 and in 1987, respectively. The first strike lasted six weeks and the second strike lasted 10 days, according to Wilcox Hospital spokesperson Lani Yukimura.
HNA said its nurses are going on strike because Wilcox Hospital doesn’t have in place an “acuity system to safely staff the hospital (according to the needs of patients).”
Both sides are also at odds over a contract proposal that would affect 30 nurses who work in “special units such as surgical services.”
Those nurses have worked at the hospital between five and 15 years, and retaining those nurses to continue to provide quality care is essential, Tomasa has said.
HNA officials said money and benefits were not strike issues, as those matters were resolved several weeks ago.
Related to those issues, HPH and Wilcox Hospital have ensured the nurses at the Kaua‘i hospital they will receive compensation equal to what HNA nurses on O‘ahu receive.
New nursing graduates with the union can start out at a yearly salary of $48,000. An HNA nurse with 15 years of experience can make more than $76,000 a year.
• Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@kauaipubco.com.
