More than 75,000 health workers across the country are set to protest Wednesday after Kaiser Permanente and unions weren’t able to meet an agreement by Sept. 30.
On Saturday, the workers’ contract with Kaiser Permanente ended, and the nonprofit wasn’t able to meet the needs of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which include better pay, staffing and benefits.
“I know we don’t want to strike, but it comes to the point that we have to do this in order to provide the best care that we want to produce,” said Tiarra Lopez, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Moreno Valley. “It will affect the community because scheduled surgeries are going to be postponed and going to be rescheduled. For us, we won’t be paid, but I’m willing to go for it for the greater benefit.”
Lopez is a registered nurse in the intensive care unit and has been working since 2006. For Lopez, one of the biggest issues is short staffing in Kaiser, which she said is a detriment to the safety and well-being of patients and workers.
“Right now our patients are a lot harder to take care of — they have more needs than before,” Lopez said. “So obviously staff is getting overwhelmed, and right now, we have a shortage of staff even before the pandemic. And that’s making it harder for us to work.”
Lopez added that she sees nurses leaving the profession, and an inadequate amount of staff leads to more illnesses, injuries and burnt-out nurses.
The strike was declared on Sept. 22, when the coalition’s National Bargaining team submitted a 10-day notice to Kaiser Permanente executives. The three-day strike will be a demonstration to show that the unions will not stand for unfair labor practices and declare that Kaiser has been bargaining in bad faith.
“Healthcare workers are taking the work action to protect Kaiser executives’ bad faith bargaining, which is getting in the way of finding solutions to solve the Kaiser short-staffing crisis by investing in its workforce,” reads a press release sent to Annenberg Media from the union.
The coalition claims that Kaiser executives:
- Commit unfair labor practices
- Failed to respond to numerous dozens of proposals intended to address the growing staffing shortage
- Cut the Performance Sharing Plan (PSP) bonus to half its current value
- Eliminate protections against subcontracting and outsourcing
- Require remote workers to permanently return to in-person with only a two-week notice
The strike will target hundreds of Kaiser locations across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
“Frontline healthcare workers are ready to sit down with Kaiser executives whenever they’re ready to bargain in good faith,” said Caroline Lucas, executive director of the unions, in a statement to Annenberg Media. “No agreement can be made until Kaiser executives stop bargaining in bad faith and committing unfair labor practices.”
Jobs affected by the strike will include licensed vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, behavioral health workers, surgical technicians and pharmacists, along with hundreds of other positions, according to the coalition.
Kaiser Permanente reported nearly 12.7 million patients and 4.9 million just in Southern California, many of which may need to reschedule non-emergency and elective services, Kaiser said in a statement.
“We take any threat to disrupt care for our members seriously and have plans in place to ensure we can continue to provide high-quality care should a strike actually occur this week,” said a Kaiser Permanente. “We need to keep working together to get through this.”
Kaiser said they are prepared to ensure the needs of patients continue if a strike ensues.
“I would like people and members to get involved more and look at the other side,” Lopez said. “Look at the workers, the staff, and I hope Kaiser will listen to us. I hope that they will invest more in their manpower because we are the front line.”