About 100 workers from three Kaiser Permanente clinics on Hawaii Island are among thousands of union members statewide who voted to authorize a strike as part of an effort to increase staffing levels and wages.
The workers represented by the Unite Here Local 5 and Hawaii Nurses and Healthcare Professionals unions — whose jobs range from nurses and specialized therapists to pharmacy techs and housekeeping staff — are seeking better staffing levels, which they said would improve patient care along with employee health and morale, and pay and benefits on par with what their counterparts on the mainland receive, the unions said in a press release Monday.
The release said that workers in some classifications in Hawaii are paid up to 30% less than their mainland peers.
The Big Island Kaiser employees represented by Local 5 work at the Waimea, Kailua-Kona and Hilo clinics, a Local 5 spokesperson said.
One of those union members, Lisa Pang, works as licensed practical nurse in the Multi-specialty Department at the Kaiser clinic in Kona. She said she works with traveling specialists visiting from other islands who use the clinic as an outer island hub to provide care, and that the staffing levels the union is working to improve cause her to feel like she can’t provide the level of care she’d like to for her patients, who deal with conditions as serious as cancer.
She also said that she often goes home feeling “completely drained” and “like I wish I could’ve done more.”
“When we’re short-staffed, patients have to wait longer, and it’s really stressful for everybody involved,” she told the Tribune-Herald.
As a member of Local 5’s bargaining team, Pang said she’s had access to worker contracts across various states, which showed that as a LPN in Hawaii assisting traveling multidisciplinary specialists, she earns less than a medical assistant in Southern California, which she called “pretty depressing.”
A mother of five with eight grandchildren, Pang said the income she receives is not enough for her to comfortably enjoy activities like beach days with her family when she’s not at work.
“I want Kaiser to stop treating us like second-class citizens, because that’s how we feel,” she said.
The release from the unions said local bargaining with Kaiser, the nation’s largest not-for-profit health care system, began in April and that national bargaining began in May. With contracts expiring for over 50,000 workers nationwide on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, an overwhelming majority of Hawaii employees represented by Local 5 and HNHP voted in mid-September to authorize a strike, with results confirmed Monday morning.
The Local 5 workers include hospital aides, medical assistants, pharmacy techs, lab assistants, dietary specialists and housekeeping, the release said. HNHP members employed by Kaiser represent nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists and lab professionals.
To date, unions representing 46,000 Kaiser workers have voted to authorize strikes in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington state, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, the release said.
Kaiser Permanente officials told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that they have been “negotiating in good faith with the Alliance of Health Care unions, which includes Local 5, HNHP and UNAC” since May on a national agreement. The officials told the paper that their current offer “includes strong, across-the-board wage increases totaling 20% over four years and enhancements to generous benefits and retirement programs.”
“It is disappointing that union leadership would choose to authorize a strike, which could disrupt care for our members and patients, while we are actively working toward an agreement,” Kaiser officials said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last week. “We remain focused on reaching an agreement that supports employees, maintains our position as a best place to work, and continues to ensure access to affordable, high-quality care for our members.”
Pang said there are about 49 Local 5 members at the Kona clinic where she works, and that they’re prepared for whatever next steps lie ahead.
“I don’t think anybody wants to strike, but it’s been ongoing with asking for staff, and they’re at their wit’s end,” she said. “I can tell you: Big Island is ready to go.”
Email Kyveli Diener at kdiener@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
