December 17 Update

Today we met for our 42nd session with the Hawaii Nurses’ Association. We were recently informed by HNA that a strike vote will be held. HNA also informed us that after this week they are not available to meet again until after the holidays.

Our commitment to reach an agreement and avoid a strike that can only serve to harm our employees, patients, and community has been unwavering. Based on HNA’s representations and availability, we felt it was critical that we present what we believe to be a fair and generous Last, Best and Final offer today. We encourage you to review the offer in its entirety and ask HNA for the opportunity to vote to ratify.

Our offer includes a staffing matrix developed from the feedback of our front-line nurses. This is a historic move by Queen’s that, we believe, will reduce the workload for our nursing team. For all areas, the charge nurse will be empowered to adjust the staffing matrix based on acuity, census, and patient mix. In addition, today we increased our already generous wage offer placing our nurses among the top of market in Hawaii.

Please see highlights of our Last Best and Final Offer.

• Three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Staffing LOA with Staffing Matrix and guidelines
• Three-year wage increases, including a newly added increase to the third year (5% first year, 4% second year, 4% third year)
• RN Staffing Committee
• Charge nurses may have reduced or no patient assignments
• Greater autonomy for charge nurses to manage staffing on their units based upon acuity, census, patient mix
• Commitment to hire additional 30 RN FTEs
• Commitment to post and fill vacancies to maintain PAR level positions
• New and increased Longevity Pay
• New and increased differentials (Charge, On-call/Stand-by)
• New floating LOA with a float differential to incentivize floating
• Increased PPL and Tuition reimbursement to $1600
• New section allowing qualified nurses the opportunity to volunteer to be a charge nurse with a minimum of two shifts of orientation
• Increased nurse representation on Workplace Violence Committee
• Increased post maternity leave by three additional months of a reduced schedule
• Streamlined educational and professional improvement process
• Up to 12 weeks of personal leave for nurses who do not qualify for maternity leave
• Enhanced meal allowance of $12.50 for eligible nurses
• Simplified work scheduling process to prioritize full and part-time regular employees

•After the schedule is posted, allow nurses to request using a call-in or PTQ to cover their shift
• Allow nurses to select their peers for evaluation as part of Performance Management process

We are scheduled to meet with HNA on Friday, December 20th.

We remain committed to reaching an agreement by the end of the year as any work stoppage will not benefit Queen’s nurses, our patients or the community.

We hope that our nurses will have the opportunity to vote on our offer.

Keeping you informed about our negotiations with HNA is extremely important to us.

For the latest updates, visit www.QueensUnionNegotiations.com.

We care about each one of you and need your voice to avoid the irreparable damage caused by a strike.