The Hawaii Nurses Association has reached a new three-year agreement for nurses at Queen's North Hawaii Community Hospital, preventing a planned three-day strike. According to reports, the contract was ratified last Friday by a large majority of the hospital’s approximately 100 nurses, as confirmed by Hawaii News Now.
"These types of negotiations are never easy, and I praise the teams from the Hawaii Nurses Association and from Queen’s Health Systems for working diligently to reach a tentative agreement," stated Steven Offenbaker, an emergency room nurse at the hospital, in a statement obtained by Hawaii News Now. The accord, which includes enhancements to nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and wage increases, takes effect immediately and avoids a potential labor dispute.
The new contract's terms are comparable to those of nurses at Queen’s Oahu hospitals at Manamana and West. This development signals an end to the drawn-out contract negotiations that began last December, which had left nurses without a current contract since March.
Rosalee Agas-Yuu, president of the Hawaii Nurses' Association, told KHON2, "The new agreement is a positive signal that Queen’s leaders are willing to change their approach to bargaining and are beginning to take their responsibility to the community as a nonprofit healthcare organization seriously."
The nurses’ approval ends nearly eight months of negotiations and almost five months without an active contract. The agreement includes changes to working conditions and was the result of discussions between both parties regarding ongoing healthcare operations on Hawaii Island.
