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Honolulu, Hawai‘i — The nurses of The Queen’s Medical Center reached a tentative agreement with the hospital’s management early this morning, averting a three-day strike that was scheduled to begin today at 7 am.

The three-year agreement, which must now be ratified by the nearly 2,000 nurses represented by the Hawai‘i Nurses’ Association (HNA), focuses on enforceable nurse-to-patient staffing ratios to improve patient care and includes a nearly 17% wage increase over the three-year period. The electronic ratification vote for the nurses from both the Punchbowl (Manamana) and West Oʻahu campuses will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Pending final approval, the agreement is expected to lead to:

• Improved staffing ratios tailored to the specific needs of units;
• Enhanced recruitment and retention initiatives to ensure sustainable staffing levels; and
• A renewed focus on employee well-being and RN workload support.

OPEIU celebrates the life and legacy of Nancy Wohlforth, a pioneering labor leader and activist who served as our union’s secretary-treasurer for many years. Wohlforth passed away Dec. 31 at the age of 79.

Her entire life, Wohlforth was an activist for the rights of working people, and a warrior in the fight for racial justice, gender justice and against war. As fearless as she was dedicated, she broke down barrier after barrier. One of the first openly gay labor leaders in the United States, she was a powerful voice in the fight for gay rights, particularly in the workplace. Wohlforth was a founding member and former president of Pride at Work (PAW), the LGBTQIA+ constituency group of union activists affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Through PAW and beyond, she dedicated herself to ensuring equality for all LGBTQIA+ individuals in their workplaces, unions and communities, and to creating a labor movement that promotes diversity and inclusion and ensures dignity and respect for all working people. She became the first openly LGBTQIA+ member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, the federation’s governing body.

Reflecting on her years in the labor movement, Wohlforth once said, “Retiring from OPEIU is so hard to do because I’ve had a love affair with this union since 1978 when I started out with OPEIU Local 3. And, as secretary-treasurer, I’ve had the most difficult, most exciting job of my life. I got the chance to build this union of ours, and to fight for things we believe in like health care for all, domestic partner benefits and social justice.”

She warmly remembered “the thousands of OPEIU members who have marched with me, organized with me, lobbied with me, rallied with me, negotiated with me, joked with me, befriended me, hugged me and most of all, have been with me” through it all.

Wohlforth is survived by Denice Lombard, her wife and partner of more than 43 years.  “Every single thing I’ve done in this union — every single thing I am in life — is because of her,” Wohlforth once said. 

A celebration of life will be held in the spring in Washington, D.C. on a date to be determined.

OPEIU remembers Wohlforth and is forever grateful to her for all she accomplished on behalf of the union and its members.