Hawai’i Nurses’ Association/OPEIU Local 50 nurses at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children overwhelmingly voted to ratify a HISTORIC three-year contract, which includes the state's first contractually enforceable safe staffing ratios—a major priority for the medical center's 600+ nurses.

Throughout a year of bargaining, three informational pickets, two ULP strikes, and a three-week lockout, Kapi'olani nurses remained united. In doing so, they've won a monumental contract that will help improve the lives of patients and inspire healthcare workers across the state to fight for what they deserve.

New York, NY—Today, the ASL Interpreters Union-OPEIU publicly launched with an international organizing committee spanning from Puerto Rico to Seattle. The union is organizing video relay service (VRS) interpreters at Sorenson and ZVRS/Purple (ZP) as the first step to establishing new standards in ASL interpreting nationwide. ASL interpreters are launching their union to fight for wages that keep up with the cost of living, more respect for the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and Deaf-Blind communities, and a voice on the job.

Video relay service is a federally administered program required under the Americans with Disabilities Act ensuring the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and Deaf-Blind communities have equal access to telecommunications services. Too often, the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and Deaf-Blind communities lose out when experienced interpreters are pushed out of VRS by poor working conditions, when early career interpreters lack adequate training and when interpreters do not have sufficient breaks to be able to give callers the attention they deserve.

To All Local Unions:

On Sept. 14, 2024, Hawai'i Pacific Health (HPH)/Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children locked out 600 highly skilled local nurses until they unconditionally accept the hospital's contract demands.

This lockout is about retaliating and breaking the nurses resolve to advocate for their patients. HPH is willing to compromise patient care to do it.