HNA Gains Contract for Wahiawa General Hospital
Friday, 15 May 2009 08:35

 

kathleen-jeremiah
Wahiawa Primary Nurse Negotiator Kathleen Jeremiah, RN, pleased with contract.
Pay increases gained in the new contract include: A total of 12% over a three year period in increments of 4%; shift differential increases for evening and night shifts; on-call pay increase. Benefit improvements include: preservation of current market value for the defined benefit pension plan; significant increases in three-tiered health plan coverage caps.

Primary Nurse Negotiator Kathleen Jeremiah, RN, said, "We are very pleased with the positive outcome of this negotiating session. It gave us an opportunity to further our Union's goal of a non-adversarial approach to the collective bargaining process."

HNA member Juliet Raymundo, RN, commented that health and dental benefits were becoming an ever-increasing burden to Nurses, and she was happy with the final health plan coverage in the agreement.

HNA President and Lead Negotiator Luanne Long, RN, said, "In spite of challenging circumstances surrounding this year's contract negotiations, we were able to achieve improvements to our contract and help maintain our facility's solvency." She said that solvency in today's economic climate means preservation of jobs for all Wahiawa's employees, not to mention continuing health care for the community.