HONOLULU (KHON2) — Tensions continue between the nurses union and one of Hawaiiʻs hospitals as Kapiʻolani administration warns them to “unconditionally” accept their offer or else.
The COO at the Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children said the two sides had met more than 30 times to negotiate and six times with HNA and a federal mediator. None of which resulted in an agreement.
Gidget Ruscetta said that they had amended their last, best and final offer twice to show theyʻre committed to reaching an agreement.
“This includes across the board raises for all of our nurses. By the third year of our current offer our nurses will earn base salary of $133,000 to $160,000 a year for three-day work weeks.”
Ruscetta said in their latest offer there are about a dozen items where hospital administration and HNA are aligned.
“Unfortunately, HNA never took our offer to its members for ratification so our nurses have never been able to vote and accept our offer.”
Kapiʻolani said they are prepared to impose a lockout of all registered nurses represented by HNA at the facility.
“We never wanted it to come to this and this has been a very difficult decision. The lockout would begin when the HNA strike ends. Therefore, HNA has the power to prevent this lockout by unconditionally accepting our offer.”
HNA responded after receiving a letter from the CEO David Underriner with their conditions.
“This is yet another example of the kind of threats nurses are subjected to every day at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children. As you can see, the hospital’s culture of intimidation starts with their CEO and permeates throughout the entire hospital,” Rosalee Agas-Yuu, HNA president said in response to the hospitalʻs statement.
This will be the second strike at Kapiʻolani Medical Center this year. The current contract with RNs expired on Nov. 30, 2023.
“We will not allow a labor dispute to jeopardize our ability to serve critical healthcare needs for our state. Repeated strikes are far too disruptive for our patients who depend on us.”