Contract negotiations between union nurses and Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children are ongoing — and have intensified after community members were arrested for blocking the hospital entrance Monday.
The Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association, which represents about 600 Kapiʻolani nurses, and hospital management met for the fifth straight day Monday. The parties are still trying to find enough common ground to agree to a new three-year contract.
They planned to meet again Tuesday.
Monday’s meeting lasted until 7 p.m. Kapiʻolani delayed contract negotiations so nurses can “prioritize patient care,” Kapiʻolani Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta said in a statement.
On Monday morning, 10 protesters blocked an entrance to Kapiʻolani, delaying buses carrying travel nurses from reaching the hospital. The protesters blocked the entrance for about two hours before being arrested by Honolulu police.
Kapiʻolani has prohibited union nurses from returning to work since Sept. 14, after the nurses held a one-day strike. The hospital said the lockout will continue until the union agrees to a contract offer. Travel nurses have been brought in to temporarily staff the hospital.
Ruscetta called the blockade “disappointing.”
“We have made every effort to keep this dispute only in negotiations. What is most disappointing is that today's incident follows four straight days of progress in our negotiations. Therefore, we don't understand why the union would decide to do what they did today at the expense of our patients,” Ruscetta said at a news conference on Monday.
She added that about two dozen appointments were rescheduled because of the blockade, and other patients were delayed.
Among those arrested included Kim Coco Iwamoto, who just won a seat in the state House of Representatives after ousting Speaker Scott Saiki, and Ikaika Hussey, a Democrat who won a primary election for a state House seat.
“The health of our people is really important, and we need to support the workers that are providing that health care for everybody,” Hussey told HPR. “The thing that I hear the most from the nurses is they're concerned about the level of care being provided to their patients that are still receiving care now while they are locked out.”
The blockade and arrests come after the death of 4-year-old Ava Agbayani at the hospital last week. She had cerebral palsy, epileptic seizures and chronic lung disease.
Ava and her sister were born prematurely and had been in and out of the hospital. Their father, Tyson Agbayani, said Ava didn't receive proper care from the travel nurses.
Kapiʻolani said in a statement, "Our heart goes out to this family. We treat the sickest and most medically fragile children in our state and the loss of any child is very painful. We are continuing to investigate and at this time we have no reason to believe that what happened was due to the quality of care at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children."
The blockade and news coverage of Ava's death are the latest chapters in the ongoing contract negotiations that have lasted over a year.
HNA began contract talks with Kapiʻolani, a facility under Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, in September 2023. The nurses’ previous contract expired in November. Because of the contract disagreements, HNA nurses held a one-week strike in January.
The nurses held another strike on Sept. 13 — the one-year anniversary of the contract talks. Kapiʻolani threatened HNA nurses with a lockout the day after the strike, and so far the hospital has followed through.
Ruscetta said the last five days of contract negotiations have led to some agreements in nurse-to-patient ratios.
The staffing ratios have been among the most important — and debated — issues in contract negotiations. Nurses say they’ve been assigned too many patients to provide proper care. They want ratios, or a “matrix,” limiting the number of patients at a time to be worked into the new contract.
But Ruscetta said that HNA now wants higher wages in the contract. Kapiʻolani said it has offered across-the-board raises, and that registered nurses would earn a base salary of $133,000 to $160,000 for a 12-hour-a-day, three-day workweek by the end of the new contract.
“Where we are still not in agreement is with the wages. … HNA has stated it's not about the money. However, they have not accepted our wage proposal and they continue to ask for more money,” Ruscetta said.
HNA, as recently as Monday morning, said it’s still asking for “safe staffing ratios,” “fair working conditions, including breaks and paid time off” and “sustainable jobs so nurses and their families can stay in Hawaiʻi.”
