Roughly
31,000
Kaiser
Permanente
nurses
and
other
healthcare
professionals
are
planning
to
launch
an
open-ended
strike
starting
on
Monday.
Their
main
grievances
are
chronic
understaffing,
rising
workloads
and
concerns
that
Kaiser’s
wage
and
contract
proposals
fail
to
address
cost-of-living
pressures.
The
workers
going
on
strike
are
represented
mainly
by
the
United
Nurses
Associations
of
California/Union
of
Health
Care
Professionals
(UNAC/UHCP).
Their
strike
will
affect
20
hospitals
and
200
clinics
across
California
and
Hawaii.
Kaiser
said
it
plans
for
its
facilities
to
stay
open
but
is
warning
of
disruptions,
rescheduled
appointments
and
possible
pharmacy
closures.
This
week,
the
health
system
released
a
statement
saying
national
labor
negotiations
have
stalled
despite
what
it
called
significant
progress
and
a
“historic”
wage
proposal,
blaming
unions
for
bad-faith
tactics
and
disruptions
to
the
bargaining
process.
Kaiser
stated
that
shifting
unresolved
issues
to
local
negotiations
is
the
most
practical
way
to
reach
agreements
on
pay
and
benefits.
The
unions
frame
the
strike
as
a
patient
safety
and
workforce
retention
crisis,
not
just
a
pay
fight.
They
argue
that
low
staffing
levels
and
mounting
administrative
pressures
are
already
delaying
care
—
forcing
clinicians
to
cut
back
services
and,
in
some
cases,
leave
the
organization
altogether.
One
union
member
—
Cameron
Cook,
a
nurse
anesthetist
at
Kaiser’s
hospital
in
Redwood
City,
California
—
noted
that
Kaiser
has
not
negotiated
in
good
faith
and
has
tried
to
portray
union
workers
as
greedy
while
avoiding
serious
bargaining.
He
said
clinicians
are
not
seeking
major
financial
gains
but
are
fighting
to
preserve
existing
benefits
and
protections
that
Kaiser
is
now
trying
to
roll
back,
despite
claims
of
generous
wage
increases.
“While
Kaiser
does
push
this
idea
that
they’re
offering
a
very
generous
wage
increase,
they’re
hiding
the
fact
that
they’re
actually
trying
to
cut
a
lot
of
our
benefits
and
retirement
and
healthcare,
as
well
as
our
ability
to
control
our
own
scheduling,”
Cook
declared.
He
also
pointed
out
that
the
dispute
is
a
patient
care
issue
and
highlighted
how
staffing
shortages
lead
to
delayed
appointments,
canceled
surgeries
and
poor
communication.
He
has
witnessed
these
problems
as
both
as
a
provider
and
as
a
patient
family
member.
“I
have
a
child
who
has
a
permanent
disability,
so
we
are
constantly
going
to
Kaiser.
I
see
what
the
patients
face
on
that
end,
in
terms
of
delayed
or
canceled
appointments,
and
the
inability
to
get
a
response
or
talk
to
a
human.
She
recently
had
a
major
surgery,
and
we
were
never
able
to
get
in
for
her
three-month
follow
up.
We
eventually
just
had
to
stop
trying
because
no
one
would
get
back
to
us,”
Cook
stated.
Ultimately,
he
thinks
workers
still
believe
in
Kaiser’s
mission
but
worry
the
organization
is
drifting
toward
corporate
priorities
at
the
expense
of
patients
and
frontline
staff.
He
warned
that
if
Kaiser
continues
down
its
current
path,
the
gap
between
its
stated
values
and
day-to-day
realities
for
patients
and
clinicians
will
only
widen.
“We
do
like
Kaiser.
We
believe
in
Kaiser.
I
think
in
terms
of
healthcare
in
the
U.S.,
Kaiser’s
model
is
to
be
admired
—
but
we
are
starting
to
see
corporate
interests
creep
in,
and
frankly,
they’re
losing
their
way.
We
want
to
see
Kaiser
invest
in
patient
care
and
the
providers
who
provide
that
care,”
Cook
remarked.
This
type
of
labor
dispute
is
nothing
new
for
Kaiser.
This
same
group
of
31,000
workers
went
on
strike
as
recently
as
October,
when
they
walked
out
for
five
days
over
concerns
related
to
staffing,
wages
and
patient
care.
Photo:
PM
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Getty
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