LIHU‘E — Nurses and union representatives from off-island picketed in front of Wilcox Memorial Hospital yesterday over what they say are attempts by Wilcox leaders to break the nursing union there. But Wilcox management says those claims are untrue, and
LIHU‘E — Nurses and union representatives from off-island picketed in front of Wilcox Memorial Hospital yesterday over what they say are attempts by Wilcox leaders to break the nursing union there.
But Wilcox management says those claims are untrue, and that the picketers — all of whom are representatives or members of an entity known as the Collective Bargaining Organization — are upset that Wilcox officials won’t recognize them.
“Despite what the CBO is claiming, it is certainly not our intention to break the union,” said Lani Yukimura, Wilcox spokesperson. “We feel that we’re caught in the middle of a legal dispute happening between the Hawaii Nurses Association and CBO.”
The CBO is the HNA’s official collective-bargaining agent. They are separate entities, but work together on behalf of at least 4,500 nurses statewide. They are presently battling in federal court over a variety of internal issues, one of which includes the use of union dues.
Because of the legal dispute, Wilcox leaders say they’re unsure who to bargain with, the HNA or CBO.
In the meantime, Wilcox leaders have suspended greivance procedures for at least 170 of their employees who fall under CBO until the legal dispute is over.
“They (our employees) and the CBO know that any outstanding issues will be handled as soon as the legal bargaining agent is determined,” Yukimura said. “In the meantime, the terms of our employees’ contracts and their right to the collective-bargaining process continue to be honored.”
“None of the other hospitals in the state have suspended grievance procedures, not St. Francis, not Queen’s, not Kaiser Permanente,” said Bill Richter, interim director of CBO.
Richter is convinced leaders at Hawaii Pacific Health (the parent company of Wilcox and two other hospitals) and Wilcox have sinister motives: “They want to bust the union on Kaua‘i,” he said.
“All we want is to sit down and talk with them about the concerns of our members who work at Wilcox,” Richter said.
State Sen. Gary Hooser, Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau, stopped by the picket site yesterday to “get informed and educated about the situation.
“It’s complicated, and I’m not anxious to get involved in a labor dispute,” he said.
But the senator said he would like to meet with some of the 170 or so affected Wilcox nurses off-site soon, and get the local nurses’ perspective.
There were no nurses from Wilcox on the picket line yesterday.
“They are too afraid to come out here to picket,” said Claudine Tomasa, CBO representative for Wilcox. “They can’t speak out of fear of losing their jobs.”
The CBO officials contend that HPH leaders — and Wilcox Hospital officials, specifically — are taking advantage of an “internal” dispute between CBO and HNA.
“This isn’t about wages. It’s about working conditions and patient care,” said Tomasa. “This is a big corporation now, no longer just little Wilcox.”
HPH is a nonprofit health care system formed in the 2001 merger of Wilcox Health Sytem, Kapi‘olani Health and Straub Clinic and Hospital. It operates four hospitals and 24 outpatient centers.
Business Editor Phil Hayworth may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or phayworth@pulitzer.net.
