Nurses employed at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu and represented by the Hawai'i Nurses' Association/OPEIU Local 50 stood together in solidarity and ratified a new contract that provides a $1,000 signing bonus, a certification bonus, a certification differential commencing in the second year, significant shift differential increases and an 8 percent wage increase during the life of three-year agreement.
“This is one of the best contracts we’ve achieved in a very long time, with no givebacks and significant improvements, and it was all done just prior to the worst COVID-19 surge we’ve experienced throughout the pandemic,” said Local 50 President Dan Ross, who also serves as an OPEIU vice president. “Our hospitals and our nurses are being pushed to their limits, with politicians and hospitals showing more concern for profits than people, but our union fights on and our membership remains united.”