Judge delays move
to oust nurses’ unionA dispute between the
Hawaii Nurses Association and
its collective bargaining unit
is set to go to court Jan. 5
Federal District Judge Helen Gillmor yesterday granted a request by the collective bargaining association of the Hawaii Nurses Association for a preliminary injunction to prevent HNA implementing measures that the union says would effectively disband it.
At HNA's annual meeting Oct. 23, delegates voted to set up a governing council on collective bargaining. Yesterday's preliminary injunction freezes that action until a hearing relating to federal lawsuits filed by the two groups can take place. The hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5.
Hawaii Nurses Association is the professional organization representing registered nurses, while the union handles salary and benefit negotiations on behalf of nurses with employers.
The on-going dispute between the two sides relates to financial management of union dues. The union asserts that interference by the HNA board of directors in its fiscal and decision-making autonomy is a violation of federal labor law. The union also alleges HNA officials failed to adequately manage and account for union dues collected from its members and have interfered with union decisions. HNA has asked the court to dismiss the case while the union has asked the court terminate its association with HNA.
HNA asserts the union is not an autonomous body, but a subordinate entity. Therefore it has the right to manage the union's money. HNA also said that the union is required under HNA articles of incorporation to participate in arbitration.
The court earlier appointed a special master to oversee all financial matters until a determination on the complaints can be made.
HNA attorney Margery Bronster characterized yesterday's proceedings as a temporary delay.
"What's important is to recognize the court did not do anything to change the vote. It's just a delay of the implementation," she said.
But union attorney Tony Gill said the ruling effectively freezes the result and will give everyone time to resolve the situation.
"Our goal is to create a stable situation through this injunction so these issues can be argued out," he said.
The dispute between the two groups is not the first of its kind. Nationally, the labor arm of the American Nurses Association, The United American Nurses, a union affiliated with the AFL-CIO, became autonomous on July 1. It represents more than 100,000 nurses at the national level. The Hawaii Nurses Association has been affiliated with the ANA for many years on a professional level, but now a union vote is required to determine whether to affiliate with the UAN. That vote has been postponed by the dispute between the HNA and the union.
A smaller labor group that severed its affiliation with the ANA is also interested in representing Hawaii nurses' labor interests. Union representatives from the California Nurses Association and Massachusetts Nurses Association have been in Hawaii. Some within HNA favor an alignment with the California and Massachusetts group as an alternative to the current collective bargaining association, but no vote on that possibility will be likely for about another six months, Bronster said.
