Union issues Kaiser Permanente notice of CA strike, says negotiations stalled
The United Nurses Associations of California and Union of Health Care Professionals delivered a 10-day strike notice to Kaiser Permanente executives.
“Kaiser can end this whenever they choose by coming back to the table and bargaining in good faith. Until they do, we are done waiting. Striking is the lawful power of working people, and we are prepared to use it on behalf of our profession and patients,” said Charmaine Morales, the UNAC-UHCP president, in a statement.
Didn’t the union just strike?
The union represents about 31,000 registered nurses and health care professionals at Kaiser. The UNAC-UHCP contract with the company expired on Sept. 30. The union took to the picket lines in October for five days.
But since then, union representatives said negotiations had been stalled for more than a month.
“We’re not going on strike to make noise. We’re authorizing a strike to win staffing that protects patients, win workload standards that stop moral injury, and win the respect and dignity Kaiser has denied for far too long,” Morales said in a statement.
The union released a report on Kaiser’s business practices — it reviewed IRS and SEC filings, financial statements, government regulatory and enforcement actions, as well as court records. It said the report detailed Kaiser’s “questionable financial investments, while patients are being harmed by chronic understaffing and delayed access to care.”
Kaiser Permenante responds to notice
In a statement, Kaiser agreed that there “has been no material movement on key economic issues for months” with the union. But it said it was “compelled to pause national bargaining because of an incident” with union leadership.
Greg Holmes, Kaiser Permanente’s chief human resources officer, said in a video statement on Dec. 18 that a UNAC-UHCP leader asked to meet with the Kaiser bargaining leader and an independent mediator “outside of the normal negotiation process.” Holmes said the union official claimed to have evidence of “illegal, unethical and reputationally damaging information.” But if Kaiser moved forward on negotiations, the union official would not release it.
Kaiser said in a statement that while it had paused national negotiations, it had moved forward with local bargaining. “We have resolved all local issues at 29 of 53 local union tables to date. We believe this is momentum we can build on.”
The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board shortly after Kaiser’s pause.
“Kaiser is using a feigned concern about the union’s lawful and protected communication during that meeting as a pretext to halt negotiations, sidestep the mediator-supported bargaining structure, and pressure union decision-making outside of the established process,” it said in a statement.
If the union strikes, what happens to patients?
By law, health care unions must give employers at least 10 days’ notice before a strike to ensure patients continue to receive care and allow hospitals time to prepare.
The strike is set to begin at 7 a.m. Monday, Jan. 26, at more than two dozen hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii. The union has not announced publicly what facilities will join the picket line.
