Kaiser Frontline Workers Warn of Longer Strike Next Month if Negotiations Fall Through

A week after tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees across the country staged a three-day walkout demanding higher wages and more robust staffing, the unions representing them warned on Tuesday of a longer strike early next month if upcoming negotiations with the company prove unsuccessful.

The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for later this week, with Julie Su, the acting U.S. secretary of labor, expected to mediate, according to the union coalition representing Kaiser employees. Anything short of a fair deal will result in a subsequent strike starting on Nov. 1 and lasting until Nov. 8, coalition representatives told KQED.

“If we don’t stand up for our work, they’re going to continue treating us the way they are treating us,” said Drenda Sims, a receptionist in the OB-GYN department at Kaiser’s Oakland facility.

Sims participated in last week’s walkout, which marked the largest health care worker strike in U.S. history. And like many of her colleagues, she said she hopes another strike will be averted, but is prepared to join the picket line again if necessary.

“It’s not a good feeling,” she said. “But it’s for the cause.”

The labor coalition, comprised of chapters of the Service Employees International Union and the Office and Professional Employees International Union, represent a wide range of Kaiser frontline workers, including respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, behavioral health workers and pharmacists, among many other positions. Doctors and nurses, however, are not involved.

Coalition officials say limiting how much Kaiser can outsource and subcontract workers remains a major sticking point in the ongoing negotiations with the massive health care provider.

“The critical issues that are outstanding really are still a long-term comprehensive solution to the Kaiser short-staffing crisis,” Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, told KQED on Tuesday, arguing that simply outsourcing the work, as she says Kaiser has considered, is not a remedy. “We need common sense limitations on subcontracting and outsourcing.”

Last week’s strike included nearly 75,000 Kaiser workers from facilities in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The majority of the strikers were located in California, with some 23,000 joining picket lines in the Bay Area alone.

In addition to significant staffing increases, workers are pushing for a 6.5% wage hike in the first two years of their next contract, and a 5.75% increase the following two years. They are also seeking to raise the minimum wage among workers in the union to $26 by 2026. Kaiser’s current minimum wage varies by region, but many places offer just under $20 per hour.

In the last round of negotiations, union officials rejected Kaiser’s offer (PDF) of 4% across-the-board wage increases for all Northern California workers for the next two years, and 3% for the following two years, in addition to a minimum performance bonus.

Kaiser also recently offered a $23-per-hour minimum wage for its employees in California starting in 2024.

“Kaiser Permanente remains committed to reaching an agreement that is good for our employees, our members, and our organization, and we will continue to bargain in good faith,” the Oakland-based company said in an email to KQED on Tuesday.

As part of negotiations with the labor coalition, Kaiser has also vowed to accelerate the pace of hiring and add 10,000 new employees nationwide by the end of this year.

And although the company is on track to surpass that goal, union officials say it’s still not enough to make up for the burnout and turnover fueled by the pandemic, that has left many facilities severely understaffed.

“This week, Kaiser executives will have another opportunity to listen to frontline staff,” said Lucas, the union coalition leader, “and to begin investing in ways that will solve the Kaiser short-staffing crisis.”