Kaiser Permanente Hawaii says that some workers picketing Tuesday at its Moanalua Medical Center and larger clinics are purposely blocking patients trying to get into the emergency room and to their appointments on the second day of a six-day strike.

The state’s largest health-maintenance organization said the “bad behavior” is putting patients at risk, citing one example of a man whose mother was having a seizure in the car and had to wait more than 10 minutes to get to the emergency room because picketers were blocking the hospital entrance. 

In another instance at the Waipio Clinic, traffic was backing up because entrances were being blocked by picketing, and patients were waiting 10 to 15 minutes just to get into the driveway, said Linda Puu, Kaiser’s chief nurse executive. 

“They’re health care workers and we provide health care, it’s not a hotel,” she said. “Preventing our patients from getting the care they need shouldn’t be a negotiating tactic. It’s dangerous.”

Puu said Kaiser has reached out to Local 5 leadership and the Honolulu Police Department about the incidences “so we can work together to allow our members to come in and go to appointments and receive the emergency care that we need to provide.”

Paola Rodelas, a spokeswoman for Unite Here Local 5, the union representing 1,900 Kaiser workers, said the behavior Kaiser is describing is “not true at all.”

In fact, Local 5 has instructed picketers to encourage patients to come to Kaiser and not to block their entry.

“We have big signs that say, ‘the clinics are open,'”  she said. “We do have picketers who walk along the crosswalks where the cars enter, but as soon as a car is approaching we instruct everyone to go on the side to make way for the cars. We coordinate with HPD, that’s why officers are over there. They help us with the flow of traffic and in making sure everyone is safe.”

Rodelas said traffic is always bad during rush hour and that perhaps patients got confused thinking any delays were caused by the strike.

“We’d never do that,” she added. “Kaiser knows the patients are on our side. We think they’re saying this because it’s a tactic to detract from our message that it’s Kaiser who is hurting patient care by closing urgent care, laying off workers and understaffing and overworking our workers.”

The union organized a statewide strike following objections to what it calls low proposed wage increases and a proposal to eliminate guaranteed pensions for new employees. The workers, picketing in four-hour shifts, include licensed practical nurses, medical assistants and housekeepers. The strike will continue through Saturday.

Kaiser is asking patients to get to their appointments early and allow more time for the traffic congestion.