HONOLULU (AP) — 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 since going on a one-day strike during contract negotiations. Those arrested sat and blocked the driveway of Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children on Monday morning and refused to leave after officers issued warnings, Honolulu police spokesperson Sarah Yoro said in an email. More than 600 nurses have been locked out since they went on a one-day strike earlier this month.
Since then, nurses and supporters have been demonstrating and holding signs outside the hospital, which said it would continue to provide care with a temporary workforce. The nurses want to see safer nurse-patient ratios, said Rosalee Agas-Yuu, president of the Hawaii Nurses Association. The contract expired last year.
Both sides met through the weekend and contract negotiations were set to continue Monday, Agas-Yuu said. “All they want to do is just go back to the bedside and take care of the patients,” she said of the nurses. On Monday, demonstrators calling attention to the lockout sat at the hospital's entrance as buses with the temporary out-of-state nurses arrived, Agas-Yuu said.
None of the people arrested are active nurses, she said. “We respect the right for peaceful protesting, but any demonstration cannot negatively impact patient care,” hospital CEO Gidget Ruscetta said in a statem.