Lydia Brandes, who worked as a nurse in the intensive care unit for 20 years before her retirement, joins workers from Maui Memorial Medical Center as they picket in front of the hospital in Wailuku on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. The Maui News/Eli Pace

Workers in the Maui Health System made good on their promise to strike Monday, walking off work with a plan not to return until Thursday morning.

According to Matt Pelc, a CT technician and chair of the United Nurses and Healthcare Employees of Hawaii union, about 500 workers walked off the job at Maui Memorial Medical Center at 7 a.m. Monday and took to the street to make their case for better wages and guaranteed staff-to-patients ratios.

Pelc said union representatives and Maui Health management have made progress in their negotiations over wages but hit a crossroads on staff-to-patient ratios.

“Of course we’d rather be inside working and taking care of our patients, but until they address staffing we’re going to be fighting for what we need here,” he said.

Similar protests are taking place at Maui Health’s hospitals on Lanai and in Kula.

Pelc said union representatives bargained through Friday night with dates set for more discussions Saturday and Sunday night, “but (management) said they’re not going to address staffing in any way, so if they’re not willing to address staffing, we told them there’s no point to meet.”

With talks breaking down over staffing, the workers went on strike. Their plan is to continue the strike Tuesday and Wednesday before returning to work Thursday morning.

Workers from Maui Memorial Medical Center hold up signs after walking off the job Monday morning, Nov. 4, 2024. The strike is expected to continue Tuesday and Wednesday. The Maui News/Gary Kubota

On Monday, a number of people honked and waved as they drove by the protestors stationed outside Maui Memorial, and the workers were grateful for the support.

“Our community supports us,” Pelc said. “You can hear them right there. The community definitely supports us. … We are fighting for the staff that makes as little as $20 an hour here, trying to get them wages they deserve, trying to get the nursing and other tech ratios set.

“It’s important to the community because when something happens to them they have to come here. There’s nowhere else for them to go, so they want to know they’re being well taken care of and we want to provide the care they need.”

While the plan is to return to work Thursday, Pelc said he wouldn’t rule out another strike in the near future, though he hopes it won’t come to that.

“If they don’t move off staffing, the contract is never going to get done, so we aren’t going to stop until we get staffing in that contract,” he said.