Unionized nurses Friday morning held a “March on the Boss” rally at The Queen’s Medical Center.
The Hawaii Nurses Association OPEIU Local 50 intended to hand-deliver the petition directly to Queen’s President and CEO Jill Hoggard Green in a show of solidarity for safe staffing, fair wages and better working conditions.
“We are putting Queen’s on notice that we are united and determined to achieve significant improvements to allow us to deliver the quality of care our community deserves,” said Rose Agas-Yuu, HNA president, in a statement. “The current contract of the nurses expires June 30, and the nurses hope to have a successor contract in place before the expiration date to avoid any potential disruption in patient care.”
Nearly all of Queen’s 2,000 nurses signed the petition, the union said, and wanted to go straight to the top. The petition was delivered to a labor representative, who said Green was not available but wanted to set up a meeting next week.
The two parties have had 14 bargaining sessions over two months, the union said, without significant progress.
Queen’s said to date, the two parties have reached 10 tentative agreements on various topics and also have had initial discussions on economics.
“Our negotiation team continues to work collaboratively and in good faith with HNA to reach an agreement on a contract that respects our nurses and their profession, promotes superior patient care, provides competitive pay and benefits, and is sustainable for our organization,” said Queen’s in a statement. “We look forward to future discussions with HNA at our next sessions.”
Among the union’s top concerns, according to Daniel Ross, former HNA president, are staffing shortages and competitive wages that reflect Hawaii’s high cost of living.
Ross, a longtime registered nurse at Queen’s, said the union is pushing for reasonable staff-to-patient ratios at Queen’s, just as it is for Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women &Children.
This issue has been at the forefront for nurses unions across the U.S. due to chronic staffing shortages, he said, and will be part of the conversation for every contract up for negotiation in Hawaii.
Queen’s hospitals have been at overcapacity for the past three years, he said, meaning that patients are being parked in the hallway when a bed is not available for them. When this happens, he said, nurses have to care for an extra patient using portable equipment, which is unsafe.
Additionally, Ross said that to remain competitive and recruit and retain experienced nurses, wages need to reflect the high cost of living in Hawaii. These wages should be competitive with the mainland market, he said, not just the Hawaii market.
“They’re ignoring the fact when you factor in the cost of living statewide, our earnings average is the lowest in the nation,” he said. “Honolulu (earnings) are the second-lowest metro area in the U.S., behind only D.C., so we can’t compete with the mainland.”
While there have been many new nurse graduates entering the workforce, experienced nurses are needed, and many are still burning out, looking to work away from the bedside or seeking opportunities elsewhere, he said.
Newly minted nurses also work a few years, then seek better-paying opportunities out of state, he said. Many are waiting to see what happens with contract negotiations.
HNA is also still in negotiations with Hawaii Pacific Health, which runs Kapi‘olani Medical Center, for a new contract, with little progress so far. The Kapi‘olani contract expired Nov. 30.
Following a one-week strike by Kapi‘olani nurses earlier this year, a federal mediator was brought in, but is no longer working with the parties because they are too far apart, Ross said.
HNA, which represents about 4,000 health care professionals statewide, also has begun negotiations for a new contract for nurses at Wilcox Medical Center and at Kulana Malama, a facility in Ewa Beach for medically fragile children.
The union said first contracts are also being negotiated for The Queen’s Medical Center-Wahiawa after Queen’s recent acquisition of Wahiawa General Hospital, and Kahi Mohala, a behavioral health facility in Ewa owned by Sutter Health.
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