Live updates: 75,000 Kaiser health care workers begin strike

Colorado State Rep voices support for those striking in his state

Who is going on strike at Kaiser Permanente?

Healthcare workers employed at Kaiser Permanente facilities represented by unions. According to the coaltion, some of the jobs affected by the strike include:

• licensed vocational nurses
• emergency department technicians
• radiology technicians
• ultrasound sonographers
• teleservice representatives
• respiratory therapists
• x-ray technicians
• optometrists
• certified nursing assistants
• behavioral health workers
• surgical technicians
• pharmacists and pharmacy technicians
• home health aides
• phlebotomists
• medical assistants
• dental assistants

When and where is the strike happening?

The strike began at 6am PT on Wednesday, with workers striking in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Washington DC.

Both sides predicted a three-day strike, from 4 October to 7 October.

However, one frontline worker who is in the bargaining discussions told The Independent that the coalition authorised a strike up to 14 days.

WATCH: healthcare workers striking outside of a Kaiser Permanente facility

In terms of the ongoing negotiations, Kaiser said in an early morning Wednesday statement: “Both Kaiser Permanente management and Coalition union representatives are still at the bargaining table, having worked through the night in an effort to reach an agreement. There has been a lot of progress, with agreements reached on several specific proposals late Tuesday.”

The hospital system also specifically addressed the hiring shortage on Monday. Kaiser said, “Despite the acute shortage of healthcare workers nationally, we have been able to hire more than 50,000 frontline employees in the last two years: 29,000 people in 2022, and another 22,000 so far this year.”

In April, Kaiser and the coalition agreed to a goal of hiring 10,000 new people for jobs represented by the coalition by the end of the year; Kaiser said it expects to reach that goal by the end of October.

Addressing the wage increases, the hospital system said that its current offer includes across-the-board wage increases from 12.5 to 16 per cent over four years. The proposed minimum wage would start at $21 in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and DC and $23 in California, with an increase over the next four years of the contract.

How does the strike affect patients?

Kaiser serves nearly 13 million patients, who will remain a “top priority” as the strike goes into effect, the statement said.

Kaiser hospitals will remain open even in the event of a strike. The hospital system explained, “Our facilities will continue to be staffed by our physicians, trained and experienced managers, and staff, and in some cases we will augment with contingent workers.”

However, some fear that the strike could lead to disruptions in vaccine administration. “The bigger issue is how long the strike will be. If it goes beyond three days, then I think we are looking at more disruptions and more difficulties for people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and other care services they need,” Janet Coffman, professor at the Healthforce Center at UCSF, told KQED.

In an effort to try to quash those concerns, Kaiser told the outlet: “Since the FDA authorized the updated COVID-19 vaccine, large-scale distribution has been a challenge for vaccine providers nationwide, including Kaiser Permanente. However, we have now received our supply and expect a consistent supply of the vaccine going forward.”

Have similar strikes happened before?

Burnout in the healthcare field has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic overwhelmed workers and overran facilities.

Kaiser health plan representative discusses the stress of the staffing shortage

Tami Chew said that she has personally felt her role become more strained over the years due to the “deteriorating” partnership between the coalition and Kaiser. That gradual change became dramatic three years ago, she said, when her team of 13 people was slashed to six; now she is the only person still serving on the team from that time.

The reduced staff has exacerbated the burden on her team to produce results at a rate that is impossible to keep up. In a role like hers, delivering results quickly is crucial. Ms Chew said she often deals with patients who are at risk of losing a limb or their life, so “those decisions need to be made by the organisation within 72 hours.”

Where the negotiations stood when the contract expired

On 30 September, the coalition posted where Kaiser fell compared to the group of unions on a number of issues. Here’s what they said:

• Across-the-Board Raises (ATBs): A fair and equitable across-the-board pay increase for every member of our Coalition. We have held to our proposal for 6.5%, 6.5%, 5.75%, 5.75%. Kaiser is continuing to offer only 3%, 3%, 3%, 3% for SCAL/NW/CO/MAS/HI and 4%, 4%, 3%, 3% for NCAL/KPWA.
• Protections against Subcontracting and Outsourcing: While Kaiser has finally agreed to extend our hard-won protections against subcontracting and outsourcing, they are insisting on removing the Revenue Cycle workforce from that agreement. They want to outsource the revenue cycle function the way that other health systems have done.
• Applying the Partnership to Acquisitions: We continue to insist that Kaiser apply the principles of Partnership and the right to organize a union to any system they acquire. Kaiser wants to grow a non-union, low-wage/low-benefit arm of the company through acquisitions. This threatens all of our wages and benefits over the long run.
• PSP Bonus: We need Kaiser to come up from their low offer of $750 max if we make our goals but they don’t meet their financial target. We also need a plan structure that allows us to meet the maximum payout.
• Premium Subsidy/HRA Retiree Medical: We are seeking modest improvements to the premium subsidy/HRA retiree medical plan that we will be transitioning to in 2028 based on the feedback of members who are already under that plan. Kaiser is not agreeing to this even though it was the Coalition that helped Kaiser reduce its accounting liability in 2015 by restructuring our retiree medical plan.