WAILUKU - Under an intermittent drizzle, about 180 Kaiser Permanente Unite Here Local 5 workers and supporters held signs and chanted at entrances and exits of Kaiser Wailuku and Maui Lani clinics Thursday in a one-day strike.
Union workers said they feared that 18 pharmacy jobs on Oahu would be outsourced when Kaiser consolidates its Hawaii mail-order prescription services with its Colorado region. But a company official said no Hawaii employees would lose their jobs in the consolidation. Pharmacy workers would continue to fill orders for prescriptions and carry out other duties but no longer would handle mail-order prescriptions, said Kaiser spokeswoman Lynn Kenton.
Union workers in Wailuku said Thursday they feared that if outsourcing were written into their contract, none of their jobs would be safe.
"We want to keep our jobs here in Hawaii," said Mercy Manangan, an occupational health service representative, who walked the line outside the Wailuku clinic on Mahalani Street.
Momi Hai, who works in front- desk operations at the Maui Lani Clinic, said the Hawaii workers want the same rights, such as job security, as their Mainland counterparts.
"Why are we being treated as second class? We deserve better." she said.
Kaiser is currently in contract negotiations with Local 5, and members have been without a contract since June, Manangan said.
She said Local 5 has about 250 members in its Kaiser unit on Maui, including licensed practical nurses, medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, appointment clerks and service representatives.
She estimated 80 percent of the clinic workers were on the picket lines and not in the clinics Thursday.
Unite Here Local 5 had staged a similar one-day strike previously on Oahu.
Kenton said Thursday afternoon that it was "business as usual" at the Maui clinics and applauded the work of staff members who stayed on the job.
Kenton said 2009 was a difficult financial year but Kaiser was committed to preserving jobs as well as growing its membership and services.
Kaiser has seen an increase in members this year, ensuring more job security for its workers, she said.
Kaiser has 388 Maui employees and 4,400 statewide, making it one of Hawaii's largest private employers.
The release said that after months of negotiations with Local 5, many contract issues have been resolved but a final agreement has not been reached yet. In recent months, Kaiser said it has asked a federal mediator to join the contract talks to accelerate a settlement.
Winona White, vice president of human resources for Kaiser, said management has offered wage increases and medical benefits to the Local 5-represented employees, "keeping them at the top tier of the health care community in Hawaii."
But Manangan said Kaiser hasn't put those offers on paper yet for the union.
"We aren't talking about wages (yet)," she said.
Mona Kaai, a medical assistant at Kaiser Wailuku clinic, said Thursday afternoon that there were no problems on the picket line and patients didn't seem upset that they had to wait for the picket line to part before they were let into the clinic.
"People have been respectful," she said.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
* This article includes a correction from the original published on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010. The last part of Momi Hai's quote was incorrect. The Maui News apologizes for the error.
