Health care workers across major Maui hospitals return to work after 3-day strike

WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Nearly 1,000 Maui County healthcare workers ended their three-day strike on Thursday.
They gathered outside three main hospitals before walking in at 7 a.m. to begin their shift.
“I’m glad to be back at work, back inside and taking care of the community again,” said Matt Pelc, CT Tech and United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii Chair (UNHCEH). “Wish it didn’t have to happen, but they pushed us to this with unfair labor practices.”
UNHCEH represents approximately 950 nurses, pharmacists, imaging technicians and other healthcare employees at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital.
Hundreds of them walked off the job on Monday and onto the picket line.
They are demanding hospital management hire more staff to help them because they say they are burnt out.
The hospitals, under Maui Health, which is affiliated with Kaiser Permanente, brought in temporary staff during the strike.
“Management was willing to give the staffing to these strike workers while we were out, and give them extra techs while we were out, while putting them up in the Grand Wailea paying them two to three times as much as we’re making,” Pelc said. “Everyone’s trying to catch up from the mess left behind from their staffing that they put through.”
Maui Health officials said in a statement, “the Union’s decision to call a strike and walk out does not change our obligation to provide safe, quality care for our patients, residents and community.”
“Our priority is always to ensure the best care for our patients, residents, and community. Hawaii does not have a large replacement workforce locally and readily available. So to ensure continued, excellent care during the strike, we brought in a team of highly qualified, highly experienced healthcare professionals, provided them a place to stay and transportation to our facilities. None of this would have been necessary if the union had continued to bargain productively instead of calling on staff to walk out,” officials said in the statement.
They also said its current offer on the table is “strong and highly competitive” including an 18-percent wage hike over four years.
Pelc said the offer does not address “safe staffing levels” and they are asking for the same staff-to-patient ratios that Kaiser agreed to in California.
He said studies show that for every patient added to a nurse’s workload, mortality rates increase by 7-percent.
“I want the community to know we don’t want to have to go on another strike. We don’t want to have to do what we already did,” he said. “But if they’re not going to take this seriously, they’re going to put that community at risk, and we will not stand for that,” he said.
Both sides are expected to return to the bargaining table on November 14th.
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