Striking Wilcox Memorial Hospital nurses were on the picket lines again yesterday after contract negotiations broke down Thursday. Day two of the strike saw more than 80 nurses resume picketing at the hospital’s main and emergency room entrances. “Despite the
Striking Wilcox Memorial Hospital nurses were on the picket lines again yesterday after contract negotiations broke down Thursday.
Day two of the strike saw more than 80 nurses resume picketing at the hospital’s main and emergency room entrances.
“Despite the strike, we are still open,” said hospital spokeswoman Lani Yukimura.
On Saturday, Yukimura said there were three emergency surgeries.
“We will provide all the services people receive at the hospital,” she said. “We are well staffed, and we have nurses covering the floors.”
Despite that, Yukimura said the hospital wants the strike to end as soon as possible.
Wilcox registered nurse Traci Majeri said the strike is not what the nurses wanted either.
“This isn’t the kind of situation we wanted to put the community, ourselves and our friends and family in,” she said.
Majeri, who is on the nurses’ negotiating team, said the striking nurses will be on the picket lines for as long as it takes until another contract in place.
“We remain open to negotiate at any time,” said the 16-year nurse, including almost 10 at Wilcox.
Another negotiating team member, Sandi Niitani, said the main sticking point in the labor dispute is the hospital’s acuity system, which rates patients and determines what kind of care they need. The 10-year Wilcox nurse is striking because she wants to make sure patients have the right amount of care at the hospital.
“The nurses are definitely concerned about the patients we take care of day in and day out,” she said. “We want to make sure the patient load is not overwhelming.”
Niitani said the nurses have to stand up for patients.
“We have the common sense to know when we feel overwhelmed,” she said. “It is not all about giving medicine and IVs. There’s a lot more to what we have to do.”
Nurse spokesman D.Q. Jackson said the hospital did not contact the nurses today, and there are no meetings scheduled.
“The Hawai‘i Nurses Association is ready to sit down with Hawaii Pacific Health anytime, anywhere,” he said.
Jackson said the nurses yesterday organized themselves to picket in three shifts per day, every day starting at 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.
“The nurses appointed a shift captain, and the nurses will picket in sessions of 90 minutes followed by 30-minute mandatory break,” said Jackson, who has been at Wilcox since 1988.
He encouraged people to join the nurses on the picket lines.
“If there are any musicians and ‘ukulele players, we would be delighted if they would serenade us,” he said.
• Cynthia Kaneshiro, staff writer,z can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or ckaneshiro@kauaipubco.com.
