OT, insurance Negotiations resumed at 10 a.m. today between Kuakini Medical Center and the union representing the facility's 210 striking nurses.
worry nurses
Negotiations resume today with Kuakini
as the strike drags onBy Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comTalks between St. Francis Medical Center and the union broke off Friday after about 11 hours with little progress toward an agreement.
Despite a marathon 18-hour bargaining session between union negotiators and Queen's Medical Center on Thursday, talks between the two sides ended about 4 a.m. Although both sides said some progress was made, no new talks are scheduled.
But the Hawaii Nurses Association's chief negotiator for Queen's, Caroldean Kahue, contacted the federal mediator this morning to see if the hospital intends to return to the bargaining table, said HNA spokesman Scott Foster.
If Queen's is willing, the union is asking that a new round of negotiations be scheduled as soon as possible, Foster said.
The hospital is working toward setting up a meeting with the union for this week, according to a spokeswoman. "Queen's would like to resolve these negotiations and return to the table some time this week in the hope of getting our nurses back to work soon," Lynn Kenton said.
For Kuakini nurses, major issues include mandatory overtime, safe staffing levels and a retiree medical plan.
The last time the two sides met, on Dec. 18, Kuakini offered a separate medical plan for retired nurses not yet eligible for the federal Medicare program. Health insurance premiums would still be paid by the nurses. However, the nurses want retirees included in the same group plan with the hospital's active employees, rather than separated, said Kerry Lineham, a nurses union negotiator. The nurses are afraid a separate retiree plan would soon become prohibitively expensive, with only older people covered in the group, Lineham said.
The two sides disagree over mandatory overtime. Kuakini proposed eventually eliminating all mandatory overtime. Instead, the hospital would introduce a list of volunteers willing to work overtime. Should the need arise if there were not enough nurses to fill available slots, the hospital would then turn to an outside staffing agency. The nurses are looking for stronger language in the contract regarding when outside agency nurses would be called in.
During the second year of the new procedure, Kuakini would also eliminate the 36/48-hour two-week work period currently in place. The new period would leave the 36 hours in place for the first week and cut the second week to 40 hours. The hospital would thereby avoid paying overtime in the second week and says it would hire additional nurses to cover the lost work hours.
However, Lineham said the nurses have grave concerns that the hospital would not be able to hire enough nurses to fill the necessary positions, especially in such a competitive market.
"Getting rid of the 48-hour workweek reduces the overtime they have to pay, but it also reduces nursing hours by approximately 27,000 hours a year. We're not confident they could recruit enough people to make up the numbers," Lineham said.
During the last negotiations, nurses also proposed restructuring the hospital's pay increase offer to provide an additional longevity increase for workers close to retirement. The overall cost of the pay increases would not change, Lineham said.
In spite of the differences, Lineham said he is hopeful the two sides can get together.
"Hopefully, this time they are ready to negotiate seriously," he said.
St. Francis Healthcare System
Queen's Medical Center
Kuakini Health System