The Maui News - Weekender

Accept offer or strike — hospital workers to vote

Union, Maui Health reach tentative agreement after three days of talks

- By COLLEEN UECHI

Workers at three Maui County hospitals who voted last week to go on strike must now decide whether to accept the “last, best and final offer” from Maui Health or walk off the job starting Wednesday morning.

Maui Health and the United Public Workers union that represents nearly 500 employees at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital came to a tentative agreement on Friday after three days of mediation.

“The solidarity shown by the membership in the strike vote was instrument­al in achieving a fair LBFO (last, best and final offer) for ratificati­on,” UPW Hawaii State Director Kalani Werner told The Maui News on Friday evening. “The LBFO represents a significan­t victory for our members and is a major step forward in our ongoing fight for fair treatment and compensati­on.”

Ratificati­on meetings have been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, allowing members to learn more about the offer and ask questions. The final decision is ultimately up to members — a “yes” vote will accept the offer, while a “no” vote means they will move forward with the strike, Werner said.

“Today, after several sessions of good faith bargaining, Maui Health and UPW have reached a tentative agreement,” Maui Health said in a statement on Friday evening. “We are pleased to have come to a tentative agreement and are encouragin­g all UPW represente­d employees to vote this Monday or Tuesday. If the tentative agreement is ratified, the strike scheduled to begin Wednesday February 22 will not commence.”

UPW’s members at the three hospitals include nurses’ aides, respirator­y therapists, housekeepe­rs, cooks and other workers. The union said 97.6 percent of members who voted supported going on strike after previous contract negotiatio­ns and mediation failed. Workers have lost confidence in hospital management after nine months of trying to work with the employer and have been operating under a contract extension since June 30, the UPW said.

In December, UPW members held an informatio­nal picket along Kaahumanu Avenue to raise concerns over proposed wage increases, which followed a protest in November by Maui Health workers under a different union who were also concerned about pay and understaff­ing.

“These workers deserve to be paid fair wages after laboring through the pandemic,

enduring staffing shortages and dealing with soaring inflation,” Werner said in a news release Thursday as mediation dragged on.

Maui Health has said that recruiting health care profession­als continues to be a challenge throughout the industry, and that staffing shortages are critical among Hawaii hospitals. It said it’s been working to recruit workers, partner with local

schools and establish inhouse training programs.

“The solutions to these complex issues will take collaborat­ion with colleagues throughout the health care industry and the state, with the goal to find a sustainabl­e pathway for stability in the industry,” Maui Health said in December. “In the short term, at Maui Health, we will continue to meet and collaborat­e with our union partners to work in earnest towards a fair agreement for our employees.”

The news of the tentative

agreement between Maui Health and UPW came one day after Kaiser Permanente and the National Union of Healthcare Workers announced that they had reached a tentative agreement that could bring to an end a nearly six-month strike of mental health care clinicians statewide.

The clinicians are voting this weekend on whether to accept the agreement or resume picketing.

 ?? The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo ?? A banner posted at Maui Memorial Medical Center is one of many around the hospital lauding the staff Thursday. Nearly 500 workers at Maui Memorial, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital will have the chance to vote next week on a tentative agreement reached between their union and hospital management on Friday. If they approve the agreement, they will avoid a strike that is set to start Wednesday morning.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo A banner posted at Maui Memorial Medical Center is one of many around the hospital lauding the staff Thursday. Nearly 500 workers at Maui Memorial, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital will have the chance to vote next week on a tentative agreement reached between their union and hospital management on Friday. If they approve the agreement, they will avoid a strike that is set to start Wednesday morning.
 ?? The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo ?? Maui Memorial Medical Center operates under cloudy skies Thursday afternoon.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo Maui Memorial Medical Center operates under cloudy skies Thursday afternoon.

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