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Unionized hospital care workers continued to strike for the 8th day today in front of Kapi‘iolani Medical Center for Women & Children after talks stalled for a new contract. The strike began at 7 a.m. on Oct. 17 and is expected to continue round-the-clock, with no end date in sight, according to Hawaii Teamsters & Allied Workers, Local 996 President Kevin Holu. “We’re still going,” he said. “Everbody’s still out there, feeling positive. We’ve had a lot of support from all the different unions.” The union represents about 300 staff members at Kapi‘olani, including nurse aides, surgical techs, anesthesia techs, maintenance engineers, dietary workers, cooks, housekeepers, and others whose contract expired June 30. Holu said members of Unite Here Local 5, which represents workers at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, recently joined the strike line after their own 5-day strike ended on Sunday morning. He said the union is getting videos from the inside, showing that trash is being left all over the place. Kapi‘olani, which is owned by Hawaii Pacific Health, has remained open, and said providing high-quality care for patients is still its top priority. “We have secured a temporary workforce that will be available during the strike,” said Kapi‘olani on its website, “and we will continue to deliver compassionate high-quality care ot our patients and community.” “This is the Teamsters’ strike,” said Kapi‘olani Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta in a statement. “The union can end this. We remain willing to head back to the bargaining table and are committed to reaching an agreement for our Kapi‘olani staff represented by the union.” Kapi‘olani executives said they decided to give workers pay increases averaging more than 4% for the first year, plus bonuses, prior to the strike notice. But the union objected to this, Holu said, because that is not enough for the workers, and “4% really amounts to nothing at all.” The union says after years of being overworked and underpaid, its members seek livable wages that match the escalating costs of living in Hawaii, along with fair retirement benefits and safer staffing levels to protect workers and patients. The union and hospital management have had 12 negotiation sessions since May, and last met in an attempt to reach an agreement on Oct. 16, the day before the strike began, he said. No new bargaining sessions between the two parties have since been scheduled.
