Vote to end Kauai nurses strike
Negotiators have tentatively agreed on a deal that addresses staffing procedures
LIHUE » Nurses will vote tomorrow to ratify a new three-year contract and put an end to the longest nurses strike in Kauai history.
Negotiation teams representing Wilcox Hospital and the 140 striking nurses tentatively agreed on a new three-year deal yesterday after meeting for just under two hours.
While details of the new deal were not released, Hawaii Nurses' Association Executive Director Aggie Pigao Cadiz said the main issues -- staffing and on-call procedures for operating room nurses -- were addressed.
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Nurses from the Hawaii Nurses' Association gathered to begin their picket line outside Wilcox Hospital on June 24.
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"The first thing they needed to hammer out was the staffing," and the other issues fell into place, she said.
Nurses had argued that the current staffing system did not provide a safe nurse-to-patient ratio, while the administration said the system was fair and previously agreed upon by the union.
Both sides said they expected the contract to be ratified by a simple majority of the nurses by the end of voting late tomorrow night.
"We are very happy that we reached a tentative agreement," said Lani Yukimura, hospital spokeswoman. "We're very optimistic."
Cadiz said the union's negotiation team met with nurses in small groups and individually over the past few days so they could gauge what the nurses would accept.
"It's a big sigh of relief," she said. "All (the nurses) wanted to do was provide safe patient care."
Yukimura said the there was a "very positive air" at Wilcox yesterday afternoon, and people were "very excited to see the end of the strike and have our nurses back."
The strike began on June 24.
If nurses do ratify the contract, Cadiz and Yukimura said it would still take over a week before the strikers return to work.
If the contract is agreed upon, Yukimura said two meeting days, Nov. 2 and 3, will be scheduled to make sure the nurses' skills are up-to-date. They would likely begin returning to the hospital and their patients Nov. 4.
"Going back to work is a huge relief" for the nurses, who have done everything from landscaping to working at fast food restaurants to pay their bills, Cadiz said.
"They did whatever they could do," she said. "But, first, and foremost, they are nurses."
