Kaiser Permanente management and union representatives agreed on some of the union’s demands. “We lead total compensation in every market where we operate, and our proposals in bargaining would ensure we keep that position,” a spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente said in a statement. In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said it is a leader in pay. “They went through the worst global health crisis in a generation and then they come out and they’re worried about paying rent, they’re worried about losing their house, they’re worried about living in their cars.” “Workers are really being squeezed right now,” Renee Saldana, a spokesperson for SEIU-UHW, told CNN. The coalition is asking for an across-the-board 6.5% raise in the first two years of the labor contract and a 5.75% raise in the next two years.

The coalition rejected that offer, saying such a raise proposal fails to keep up with the cost of living. Kaiser Permanente has offered location-dependent wage increases, with a maximum of 4% for each of the four years of the new contract, according to an October 1 update by SEIU-UHW. The union coalition is demanding higher pay, a strategy by Kaiser Permanente management to tackle chronic staff shortages, protections against outsourcing, and earlier notice when management calls remote workers back to in-person work.Īccording to an update by SEIU-UHW, negotiating progress was made before the strike began, though management and the unions are still far apart regarding employee raises. In a recent statement, Kaiser Permanente said it has agreed to accelerate hiring, setting a goal of hiring 10,000 new people for union-represented jobs by the end of 2023. Striking employees say staff shortages have left them feeling overworked and burnt out. However, a “longer, stronger” strike may come in November if a deal between the coalition and Kaiser Permanente is not reached after this strike effort, according to communications from SEIU-UHW, the largest union in the coalition. Kaiser Permanente workers will return to work on October 7 at 6 am local time in each state that joins the strike. We remain optimistic that there is still time to find agreement before any of the work stoppages called by the coalition unions begin at 6 am on Wednesday.”īut as 6 am arrived on the West Coast, there was no word of a deal, and employees headed for the picket lines. In a statement from Kaiser at 9 pm PT Tuesday, it said “Our team is available 24/7 to continue bargaining with the coalition until we reach a fair and equitable agreement. Picket lines in Virginia and Washington DC facilities, most of which are not open 24 hours, went at 7 am ET. They are demanding improved staffing levels, arguing that current staff shortages are compromising patient care and taking many workers to a breaking point. In the wake of pandemic, however, health care workers in particular have been fighting for safer and more secure work environments. The unprecedented strike comes at a time of heightened labor activity across the United States, with tens of thousands of workers across multiple industries taking to the picket lines for better pay and benefits. Currently, the strike continues, and there are no sessions scheduled at this hour.” Healthcare workers within the coalition remain ready to meet at any time. Kaiser Permanente says it will work with union leaders “to reconvene bargaining as soon as possible.”Ĭaroline Lucas, a spokesperson for the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, said in a statement Wednesday night: “Frontline healthcare workers are awaiting a meaningful response from Kaiser executives regarding some of our key priorities including safe staffing, outsourcing protections for incumbent healthcare workers, and fair wages to reduce turnover. “While we have not reached a contract settlement, we have been able to reach a number of tentative agreements in bargaining, and our offers to date address the unions’ priorities,” the statement says. The strike began at 6 am local time, and will run through Saturday morning.īargaining sessions between the coalition and Kaiser Permanente ended Wednesday without a settlement, but “a number of tentative agreements in bargaining” have been reached, Kaiser Permanente said in a statement Wednesday.

The vast majority of the striking workers are in West Coast states. The striking employees, who work across California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Oregon and Washington, DC, are represented by a coalition of unions that comprise 40% of Kaiser Permanente’s total staff. On Wednesday, more than 75,000 unionized employees of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health providers, walked off the job, marking the largest health care worker strike in US history.

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