The United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii, a chapter of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, began a three-day strike Nov. 4 at Maui Health facilities.
Six things to know:
1. Hundreds of pharmacists, imaging technicians and others who work at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital in Lanai City, are participating in the strike.
2. In a statement shared with Becker's, Maui Health said its hospitals, emergency departments and clinics are open and will remain open and operating as usual during the strike. The health system has also hired a temporary workforce to fill in for striking employees.
3. The strike comes after union members voted to authorize a strike over the weekend of Oct. 12-13. The union began bargaining for a new contract with Maui Health and Kaiser in July.
4. Both sides have made progress during negotiations. Maui Health says its offers, as of Nov. 3, "are strong and highly competitive." They include an 18% across-the-board wage increase over four years and financial incentives for continued education.
5. The union contends that during bargaining, both sides have not been able to come to an agreement thus far over staffing benchmarks.
"We want to provide the best medical care we can. I've had nurses tell me they feel like they need two of themselves. I've had patients who told me, 'I love the care that I'm getting, but the nurses are working so hard, with all these patients,'" said China Kapuras, a Hawaii native and military veteran who works at MMMC as a case management specialist, in a union release shared with Becker's last month.
6. The strike is slated to end on Nov. 7.