Dozens of health care workers began striking at the break of dawn on Monday at Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center to call for a fair contract and protest unfair labor practices.

The United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, which represents about 250 registered nurses, pharmacists, and others in Hawaii, is holding an open-ended strike, and says it will continue as long as it takes to get a fair agreement.

The union represents about 31,000 workers in all, with the strikes held concurrently at Kaiser facilities across California. Their contracts expired Sept. 30.

“We’re here fighting for a fair contract that honors new groups and our group as a whole,” said Matthew Piskura, a physical therapist who held a sign with an angry emoji face. “We’re also here fighting for patients and then thirdly, you know, the price of paradise — we’re here for a fair wage contract. It has to keep up with the cost of living.”

While Kaiser says the strike is unnecessary, given its very generous offer of 21.5% wage increases over four years, the union says other benefits are being cut and that management has been using delay tactics to stall negotiations.

Kaiser said, “Our Alliance employees already earn, on average, about 10% more than similar roles at other health care organizations in Hawaii.”

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But the union says it is pushing for fair wages for all, as well as better staffing levels to prevent delays in care and burnout.

UNAC/UHCP said Kaiser’s proposal hits newly organized professionals with wage cuts tied to joining the union, along with changes that mean longer hours for less pay and reductions to pension benefits.

Steve Bazan, a certified registered nurse anesthetist at Kaiser Moanalua, said it’s also about pay equity.

“It’s very difficult for Hawaii people to come back to Hawaii to serve the communities they grew up in,” he said, having done so after going to school on the U.S. continent. “I do much more difficult anesthesia here, but get paid less here than there.”

He has seen other nurse anesthetists leave, and once they do, he said they seldom, if ever come back.

Improving staffing levels, wages, and working conditions here will help recruit and retain health care workers, he said.

Unfair labor disputes

An ongoing dispute over how to move forward with bargaining, meanwhile, continues as the strike commences.

Kaiser has been in months-long negotiations for a national contract with the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which represents 23 unions including UNAC/UHCP, as well as local contracts for each union individually.

But Kaiser executives said after more than 1,000 bargaining sessions with the Alliance since May, there has been no real movement on economic issues, and paused further meetings in mid-December due to an alleged incident.

Kaiser said it has made more progress with individual unions — more than half of them — and proposed moving all open issues at the national table to each local table instead as the “right path forward” to finalizing contracts.

On Sunday, Kaiser said it would resume local bargaining with UNAC/UHCP, the largest union in the Alliance.

“If Kaiser comes to the table in a meaningful way, we are optimistic about that, but so far they have not shown that,” said Jake Elsbernd, a pharmacist and union staff representative. “Regardless of them coming back to the table, we do need to have a dialogue.”

The union, however, still objects to Kaiser not returning to the table with the Alliance.

Kaiser should not “at the 11th hour” bypass the whole national bargaining process, said Elsbernd.

The union has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Kaiser walked away from the table and is attempting to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process.

The union has also filed a complaint alleging that Kaiser circulated communications warning employees about “supposed consequences” of striking.

The strike on Monday follows a five-day strike held in October, which included other Alliance unions such as Unite Here Local 5 and Hawaii Nurses Healthcare Professionals. The two unions, which represent more than 2,000 workers, are not officially part of this strike.

Kaiser said Moanalua Medical Center and all of its clinics will remain open during the strike, with licensed contract professionals brought in as needed.

Some appointments may be shifted to virtual care, and certain elective surgeries and procedures may need to be rescheduled.

KAISER STRIKE BEGINS

>> UNAC/UHCP workers began an open-ended strike on Monday. The union represents about 250 workers in Hawaii, including registered nurses, pharmacists, rehab therapists, nurse anesthetists, midwives, speech therapists and dieticians, among others.

>> Kaiser Moanalua, ER, urgent care, and all clinics will remain open during the strike. Some pharmacy locations may need to be closed. Mail-order delivery is available at kp.org/pharmacy.

>> Certain appointments, elective surgeries and procedures may need to be rescheduled. Kaiser will contact patients in advance if rescheduling is necessary.

>> Need assistance? Kaiser said greeters will be standing by to assist. Members can call 808-643-7979, then press 3 (TTY 711) for assistance. Updates are available at kp.org.