5-Day Strike Begins at Kaiser Permanente Hospitals Across Hawaii
Hundreds of unionized workers showed up in force Tuesday morning for the first day of a scheduled five-day strike at Kaiser Permanente hospitals across Hawaii.
At Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center, union members lined the sidewalk fronting the hospital as early as 6:30 a.m. wielding signs that said, “Hawaii Is Not Second Class” and “On Strike” while chanting, “Hey, hey, ho ho. Kaiser’s greed has got to go!”
Many truck drivers honked in support as they passed the hospital along Moanalua Road, and strikers moved aside at intervals to let cars enter and exit the driveway. Honolulu police officers were on-site, monitoring the scene.
“Kaiser workers going on strike today shows that we will do whatever it takes to make sure Hawaii does not get left behind and we have the safe staffing needed to deliver the quality patient care that Kaiser prides itself on,” said Cade Watanabe, Local 5 financial secretary-treasurer, in a statement. “Last year, our membership experienced a turnover rate of over 11% and we will not allow Kaiser to take advantage of the hard work and dedication of Hawaii’s people by paying us less than workers on the mainland, while Kaiser reports reserves up to $66 billion and continues to acquire other healthcare systems across the country.”
Local 5 represents hospital aides, medical assistants, dietary specialists and housekeepers, while the Hawaii Nurses and Healthcare Professionals represents nurses, nurse practitioners and respiratory therapists, among others.
The contracts for the roughly 2,300 union workers in Hawaii expired Sept. 30.
The unions said they have been negotiating locally since April, and reached a stalemate on safe staffing, wages to keep up with the high cost of living, and wage equity. Local 5 says Kaiser workers in Hawaii are paid up to 30% less than their counterparts doing the same work on the mainland.
Kaiser officials, meanwhile, assured the public in a media statement that its hospital emergency department, urgent care centers and most medical offices remain open during the strike.
Additionally, Kaiser said it brought in up to 7,600 nurses, clinicians and other staff to work during the strike, and that the majority have worked at Kaiser Permanente before. Kaiser said more than 1,000 of its employees also have volunteered to be reassigned to strike locations.
Kaiser’s pharmacies and some of its labs, however, will be temporarily closed, along with the Hawaii Kai, Kihei, Kahuku and Waimea clinics. Some appointments might be shifted to virtual care, while some elective surgeries may need to be rescheduled.
The strike in Hawaii happened in tandem with others in California, Oregon and Washington state.
The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals also began a five-day strike Tuesday.
UNAC represents 31,000 registered nurses and other health care workers in California, including more than 200 in Hawaii. Their workers joined the strike at Kaiser Moanalua as well as at Kaiser Honolulu and Maui Lani medical offices.
Kaiser officials called the strike unnecessary and disruptive, as the nonprofit has been actively working with the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which includes the three unions, since May to reach new national and local agreements.
“We respect the Alliance and value their members — our employees — for the vital role they play caring for our 12.5 million members,” repeated Dionicia Lagapa, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s vice president of ambulatory care and clinical services, in a statement. “A strike is unnecessary when a generous offer is on the table. It is designed to disrupt the lives of our patients — the very people we are all here to serve.”
Lagapa said Kaiser has offered workers a 21.5% increase in wages over four years, in addition to enhanced medical and retirement benefits.
Kaiser said the Alliance originally sought a 38% wage increase over four years, and now demands 25%, which is “a figure out of step with today’s economic realities and rising health care costs.”
Such an increase would lead to higher rates for members and customers, with serious market implications, Kaiser said, when health care costs are increasingly unaffordable and “many of them are having to make the difficult choice to go without coverage.”
But striking Kaiser workers said their wages need to keep up with the rising costs of living in Hawaii, and should be equitable with California.
Taua Faaiu, a Kaiser Moanalua clerk for 20 years, said the offer was like “a slap in the face.”
“When you compare it to the mainland, our brothers and sisters there under the same Alliance, they’re making $13 an hour more than what I’m making here,” she said. “It’s not sustainable … How are you going to treat us like second-class citizens when we’re giving our all?”
Faaiu said safe staffing also matters, and that she is personally concerned, as her husband had just had open heart surgery at the hospital last week.
Mary Taboniar, a nurse aide for more than three years, said she has had as many as 20 patients by the end of her shift, double a reasonable limit of 10, which is already overwhelming. Additionally, she has been doing 16-hour shifts due to the shortage in staffing.
It is frustrating, she said, to be unable to answer a call light, knowing a patient is waiting, because there is not enough staff.
“We voiced it to our managers,” she said, “and they’re not doing anything.”
Safe staffing has been a growing demand among unions, particularly among registered nurses, at hospitals across Hawaii over the past few years.
The last Kaiser strike involving Local 5 in Hawaii was in February 2015 — when health care workers went on a six-day strike to protest staffing cuts and the closure of an urgent care department in Honolulu.
Workers then also objected to proposed wage increases that were significantly lower than their counterparts in California.
The current strike is scheduled to end at 7 a.m. on Sunday. As of Tuesday evening, no meetings between the unions and management had been scheduled.
Kaiser said in a statement, “we are prepared to resume negotiations after the strike to reach an agreement that balances fair pay for our employees with our obligations to deliver high-quality, affordable care.”
Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii
>> Five-day strike scheduled until 7 a.m. Sunday
>> Emergency Department at Moanalua, and Urgent Care in Honolulu, West Oahu (Kapolei), Maui Lani Medical Office remain open.
>> Kaiser urges patients not to cancel or reschedule appointments scheduled during the strike. Kaiser will call patients directly if care needs to be rescheduled or changed to a virtual appointment.
>> Hawaii Kai, Kihei, Kahuku, and Waimea Clinics will be temporary closed during the work stoppage.
>> All outpatient pharmacies and some laboratory locations will be temporarily closed during the work stoppage. New and urgent prescriptions can be filled at affiliate pharmacies by calling 808-643-7979.
>> Questions? Call member services at 1-800-966-5955, Monday to Friday (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday, (8 a.m. to noon).
>> More info: Visit kpinhawaii.org Opens in a new taband click on red banner.