WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A major contract is about to expire at Maui’s main hospital as unionized workers say they need help.

Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only acute care hospital on the island and employees say the safety of the community is at risk.

They say the nurse-to-patient ratio at the hospital is unsafe, they are burnt out, and workers are leaving the medical field completely to find better paying jobs.

The United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii (UNHCEH), which is a chapter of United Nurses Association of California (UNAC), represents all the nurses, ancillary staff, imaging techs, and pharmacists at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

“We believe the safety of the community is already in jeopardy because the staffing that’s going on right now is just not safe. Our nurses are getting pulled all over the place. They’re overwhelmed,” said Mathew Pelc, UNHCEH Chair. “For every additional patient that a nurse gets added to their workload, the mortality rate goes up to 7%.”

Pelc says they represent more than 900 members, which is approximately half the staff at the hospital.

They have been bargaining with Maui Health, which falls under Kaiser Permanente, since July and have failed to reach an agreement.

Their contract expires at midnight on Tuesday.

Union officials say 98-percent of its members voted “yes” to go on strike.

“It’s not really about the money. It’s more about the safe staffing. Some of the money could help retain staff and get new staff out here and get qualified people. We hire every nurse that Maui college puts out, and so many of them leave to take better paying jobs as soon as they get the experience needed to apply to other jobs,” Pelc said.

Maui Health officials said they have been bargaining in “good faith.”

“In partnership with UNAC, we have been successful in reaching a number of tentative agreements and continue to make steady progress. Our goal is to reach an agreement with UNAC that provides excellent compensation and benefits for our employees while ensuring we can continue to provide our community access to the high-quality health care they need and deserve. We are committed to continuing to bargain in good faith to reach a fair and equitable agreement,” officials at Maui Health said.

Pelc said a strike is the last resort but wants management to know they are serious about their demands to hire more help and provide living wages.

“It seems like you guys aren’t taking this very serious, and this is very important. There are lives on the line every day and our staff doesn’t want to have to worry about if they’re going to have the staff each day to take care of the patients how they need to be taken care of,” he said.

Pelc said people can support them by calling and emailing the hospital.

Both sides will go back to the table October 3rd and have additional meetings scheduled throughout the entire month.