CA Could See Largest Healthcare Strike In US History By End Of Month

OAKLAND, CA — Nearly 60,000 California health care workers have voted to authorize a strike against Kaiser Permanente, citing low staffing levels, declining patient care and months-long negotiations.

The workers, who are part of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, announced Thursday the vote by a 98 percent margin to strike if no agreement is reached with the health care provider before Kaiser’s national contract expires Sept. 30. Kaiser coalition unions in Colorado, Oregon and Washington have also voted to strike.

If Kaiser workers strike, it could be the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history, according to the union.

“For weeks, Kaiser sent us messages telling us to reject a strike,” said Miriam De La Paz, a Labor and Delivery Unit secretary at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Downey, in a union news release.

“Their millionaire executives implied we were imagining the delays in care our patients are experiencing and ignored the fact that our families are struggling more and more to keep up with the rising cost of living.”

The union noted Kaiser earlier in the year announced premium increases of up to 15 percent despite long wait times and service delays.

The union coalition’s national bargaining process with Kaiser — its first since 2019 — began in April. Kaiser’s negotiation offerings have included plans to cut performance bonuses for frontline workers and remove protections against subcontracting and outsourcing jobs, according to the union.

In a lengthy statement in response to the strike authorization, Kaiser said it had proposed a $21 hourly minimum wage but that the union wants $26, and that it had offered across-the-board wage increases of 10-14 percent over four years with extra lump sums in Southern California.

Kaiser argued it will not slash performance bonuses but is instead proposing a minimum payment level and that, with regard to subcontracting, it has asked the coalition to work with the employer to be more nimble and affordable in some staffing situations.

The provider also made 9,000 of 10,000 hires the coalition and employer agreed upon for 2023, according to Kaiser.

“We take any threat to disrupt care for our members seriously and have comprehensive plans to ensure continued access to needed health care services, should a strike occur later this year,” Kaiser said in the statement. “We will urge our employees to reject any call for an actual strike and continue to focus on providing high-quality care and service to our members, patients, and communities who need us to be there for them.”

There are two bargaining sessions set for the coming week, according to Kaiser.