10 Arrested Outside Hawaii Hospital As Nurses’ Labor Dispute Escalates

HONOLULU — Ten people, including a recently elected state lawmaker, were arrested Monday outside Hawaii’s only women’s and children’s hospital, where unionized nurses have been locked out for a day of strikes during contract negotiations.

Those arrested sat down and blocked the driveway of the Kapi’olani Women’s Medical Center. & The children were arrested Monday morning and refused to leave after officers issued warnings, Honolulu police spokeswoman Sarah Yoro said in an email.

More than 600 nurses have been locked out since they began a one-day strike earlier this month. Since then, nurses and their supporters have been demonstrating and holding placards outside the hospital, which says it will continue to provide care with temporary staff.

Nurses want to see safer nurse-to-patient ratios, said Rosalee Agas-Yuu, president of the Hawaii Nurses Association. The contract expired last year.

The two sides met over the weekend and contract negotiations are expected to continue on Monday, Agas-Yuu said.

“All they want to do is get back to the bedside and take care of patients,” she said of nurses.

On Monday, protesters calling for a strike gathered outside the hospital entrance as buses carrying temporary nurses from other states arrived, Agas-Yuu said. None of those arrested are working nurses, she said.

“We respect the right to peaceful protest, but no protest can negatively impact patient care,” Gidget Ruscetta, the hospital’s CEO, said in a statement. “Access to our medical center must remain open to our community. We rely on the Honolulu Police Department to take appropriate action.”

According to the police arrest register, Kim Coco Iwamotoa Democrat recently elected to represent part of Honolulu in the state House of Representatives, was among those arrested and cited for obstruction.

Iwamoto said she plans to address nurse staffing ratios in the state Legislature.

Ikaika Hussey, who recently won the Democratic primary for a seat in the state House of Representatives, was also arrested. He and others were engaging in “classic civil disobedience,” he said after being released from a cell.

He said his decision to participate came with the hospital’s founder, Queen Kapi’olani, in mind.

“She would be disappointed to see how, you know, sort of anti-worker her namesake has become,” he said.

This was not the first arrest for Treschuk, who said she has been arrested at other protests for other reasons. But this arrest was more personal for the 77-year-old retired nurse.

“I feel so sorry for the healthcare workers,” she said. “I know how stressful it is, even on the best of days.”