Striking hospital employees with the United Public Workers union picket across the entrance to Maui Memorial Medical Center on the afternoon of Feb. 23. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Maui Health and the United Public Workers union picked up negotiations again on Monday but left with little indication of progress as a strike by workers at three Maui County hospitals nears the two-week mark.

It’s the first time the two sides have returned to the bargaining table since employees with UPW went on strike at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital on Feb. 22.

The union said talks “broke down” after two hours as both sides work to hammer out a new contract for nearly 500 health care workers represented by UPW.

“We are deeply disappointed and frustrated by today’s events,” UPW State Director Kalani Werner said in a statement on Monday afternoon. “The lack of respect was discouraging. Maui Health System arrived an hour late for our meeting and then walked away after just two hours of discussion.”

Maui Health did not go into details about what happened during negotiations on Monday but said that it is “committed to maintaining a respectful working relationship with all of our employee unions and will continue to bargain in good faith until a fair agreement is reached. We look forward to returning to the table, as agreed, on March 14, 2023.”

The operator of the three hospitals pointed out that the two sides have been able to find common ground in the past.

“There have been substantial efforts at the bargaining table for months to reach a fair, equitable agreement,” Maui Health said in a statement Monday evening. “Since August 2022, there have been three separate instances where Maui Health and UPW have reached a tentative agreement. The third tentative agreement for a last, best, and final offer (LBFO) was reached on February 17, 2023, included substantial increases to the previous two tentative agreements and was highly endorsed by the union’s bargaining committee.”

Maui Health noted that Werner had described the final offer to The Maui News as “a significant victory for our members.”

Hospital workers voted to reject the offer and move forward with a previously approved strike. Fair pay and better scheduling to avoid burnouts has long been at the heart of workers’ complaints.

On the picket lines and in previous rallies during the monthslong negotiation process, employees have called for better pay for veteran workers who they say are making lower wages than new hires. They’ve raised concerns over workers putting in long shifts multiple days in a row.

“While this setback is disheartening, it only strengthens our resolve to fight for what we deserve,” Werner said after negotiations wrapped up Monday. “This is a pivotal moment in our fight for fair treatment and compensation; we cannot afford to let it slip away. By standing together and supporting each other, we can send a powerful message that we will not back down until our demands are met.”

The union has also been critical of Maui Health’s response to the strike, saying the hospitals are doing “business as usual despite not filling our core and critical positions.”

Maui Health has said it has a contingency plan in place but has not specified how many workers it has brought in or how the current staff are covering the duties of striking workers.

“The current Maui Health team in place have been remarkable and have stepped up to provide extra assistance,” Maui Health said Monday. “We continue to deploy additional clinical and non-clinical staffing from multiple resources to ensure safe, quality care for our patients, with minimal disruptions.”

Maui Health said that despite some rumors, “we have not discontinued health insurance benefits for our UPW members, and at this time we have no plans to implement a ‘lock out.’ ” It encouraged patients to continue to seek medical care during the strike, and to let security know if they are experiencing delays so picketers and/or MPD can be notified when emergent medical access is necessary.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.