Due to burnout and a variety of other factors, healthcare workers have been grappling with worsening staffing shortages. These circumstances have deeply impacted both their ability to sustain quality patient care and their personal well-being. Catherine Engler, a licensed vocational nurse in Carlsbad, Calif., voiced her concerns during a recent news conference, highlighting the extensive wait times patients are experiencing and the reliance on phone appointments. Engler expressed fear over the scarcity of staff, noting that healthcare workers are leaving the industry out of sheer inability to cope.
The coalition must reach an agreement with Kaiser by Saturday to avoid triggering the strike vote. If no resolution is reached, the vote will commence in Denver on Saturday and in California on Monday, running until September 13. The coalition represents a substantial majority of the 85,000 healthcare workers across the nation, with California alone being home to most of them. According to Dave Regan, president of the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, a strike could potentially occur as soon as October 1 if the national contract expires on September 30. The impact of a strike would be felt not only in California and Colorado but in other states such as Oregon, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, and even Washington D.C. Remarkably, this could adversely affect approximately 12 million Kaiser members.
Union officials have accused Kaiser of engaging in unfair labor practices, particularly by refusing to negotiate in good faith. Regan, representing the majority of affected Kaiser employees, has criticized the company, stating that “Kaiser has lost its way.” The coalition has raised concerns over a series of unfair-labor-practice charges filed against Kaiser with the National Labor Relations Board. These charges primarily revolve around the unions’ claims that Kaiser has failed to provide crucial information necessary for effective bargaining.
Striking Workers Demand Higher Wages at Kaiser
Amid ongoing labor negotiations, the striking workers at Kaiser Permanente are raising their demands. The union has proposed a $25-an-hour minimum wage compared to Kaiser’s proposal of $21 an hour by 2026.
Kaiser Permanente, despite being a nonprofit organization, has reported a staggering $24 billion in profit over the last five years. This financial information adds weight to the workers’ demands for better compensation.
Disagreements persist concerning wage disparities and whether wage increases should be market-based. Kaiser argues that basing wages on market conditions prevents them from addressing existing wage disparities in their various markets.
Addressing concerns about staffing, Kaiser stated that both parties aim to hire 10,000 new represented workers in 2023. To date, they have successfully filled over 6,500 of these positions.
Reiterating their commitment to reaching an agreement, Kaiser remains confident that a resolution will be achieved by the contract’s expiration date. The organization acknowledges that bargaining involves compromise and emphasizes that accusations of bargaining in bad faith are “unfounded and counterproductive.”
This healthcare strike unfolds amidst a backdrop of labor unrest across various industries and income levels. Auto workers in the United States prepare for a potential strike, Hollywood writers and actors are on strike, hotel workers in Southern California engage in a rolling strike, public-sector workers have walked off the job, and workers across industries are either taking labor action or organizing.
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