On Feb. 22, almost 500 employees of Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital, and Lānaʻi Community Hospital went on strike, demanding higher pay and more reasonable hours.
More than a week later, they remain on the picket line, as the hospitals scramble to fill shifts.
The striking workers include nurses’ aides, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, cooks, and others, who say the hospitals’ offers don’t keep up with inflation and fail to address back-to-back shifts.
Hospital workers on the picket line outside Maui Memorial Hospital. (Image credit Jacob Shafer)
When MauiTimes visited striking workers at Maui Memorial on Wednesday, they all said they couldn’t comment on the ongoing negotiations. But they were marching, with signs and plastic ponchos, even as the rain came down.
The two sides are set to return to the negotiating table on Monday.
