DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Pam Keanini-Ross, center, the union representative from St. Francis West, vented her frustrations to Susan Bianchi, left, director of United American Nurses, while Claudine Toma, of the Collective Bargaining Organization for nurses, listens. She and other Hawaii nurses were outraged that they were not allowed to voice their opinions during yesterday's Hawaii Nurses Association meeting at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.
Hawaii nurses
protest meeting snub
Members of the Hawaii Nurses Association protested yesterday morning upon being excluded from that organization's annual meeting at the Blaisdell Center.
A long-standing dispute between the HNA and the local nurses' bargaining unit over the management of union dues boiled over last month into a lawsuit.
The collective bargaining unit, which filed the suit, charges that interference by the HNA board of directors in the fiscal and decision making autonomy of the union is a violation of federal labor law.
It also challenges HNA's assertion that the union is a subordinate entity, thereby entitling HNA to manage the union's money.
The HNA asserts the bargaining unit is not an autonomous organization.
The court has appointed a special master to collect dues and handle the organizations' bills until the case is resolved.
The nurses' bargaining unit had its annual meeting later in the day.
