Kapi‘olani, nurses union return to bargaining table

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Hundreds of nurses gather to rally and march outside the state Capitol on Tuesday. The nurses union and management at Kapi ‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children resumes talks Saturday to iron out a new, three-year contract.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Hundreds of nurses gather to rally and march outside the state Capitol on Tuesday. The nurses union and management at Kapi ‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children resumes talks Saturday to iron out a new, three-year contract.

The Hawaii Nurses’ Association and management at Kapi ‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children concluded talks Friday and resumed again at 10 a.m. today.

There has so far been no agreement between the union and Kapi ‘olani on a new, three-year contract covering about 600 nurses. The previous contract ended Nov. 30.

Talks resumed Friday morning after a bargaining session Thursday—the first one held since nurses held a one-day strike Sept. 13, and were locked out the next day from returning to work by management.

“The nurses are willing to meet through the weekend to continue bargaining at the table, ” HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said in a statement.

Kapi ‘olani Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta said the two sides met for several hours Friday.

“We met with the Hawai ‘i Nurses’ Association for several hours again today and had collaborative discussions about staffing, ” Ruscetta said in a statement. “We mutually agreed to meet tomorrow to work toward an agreement for our nurses, which has been our goal since we started negotiations more than a year ago.”

Rusetta said Thursday’s negotiation session lasted until about 10 p.m., which is the latest that talks have ended to date.

“After exchanging counterproposals, we engaged in discussions and continued to work through staffing, ” Ruscetta said. “We remain committed to reaching an agreement for our nurses.”

The nurses have been demonstrating throughout the week, advocating for safe staffing and what they say are safer nurse-to-patient ratios limiting how many patients a nurse cares for at one time.

Ruscetta has said Kapi ­‘o ­lani is working on a “staffing matrix ” to address these concerns.

The nurses have been working without a contract since December, and talks have dragged out for more than a year.

HNA urged hospital leaders to seriously consider the offer that nurses presented to them Thursday afternoon.

Friday marked the seventh day Kapi ‘olani nurses have been locked out.

“We want to return to work to care for our patients with safe staffing ratios to prevent any more unsafe patient conditions, ” Agas-Yuu said. “It’s time for us to move forward as a community.”

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