Why More Than 75,000 Health Care Workers Are On Strike

For more than 25 years, Kaiser Permanente has successfully partnered with its unions, working side-by-side to secure the highest wages in health care while providing high-quality patient care – until today. More than 75,000 workers are on strike against the company, and their demands reflect the poor state of the American health care system.

After months of failed contract negotiations, the Kaiser Permanente Union Coalition announced a 10-day strike on September 22 over unfair labor practices. Unions are negotiating their first collective agreement since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying working conditions have become unsustainable and have affected patient care. "We have repeatedly expressed our concerns about Kaiser's staffing crisis to Kaiser management, but they are negotiating in bad faith and refusing to listen to us," said Audrey Cardenas Lora, Kaiser Permanente administrative specialist, in a news release at Oregon. Union press statement.

That's why on Wednesday, thousands of health care workers in the Kaiser Permanente region (California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Oregon and Washington, DC) began a three-day strike, including nurses, radiologists, x-ray technicians, assistants doctors and pharmacists. And hundreds of other roles. The strike is expected to last until October 7 while negotiations are underway. However, if no deal is reached, the union has called for another strike in November.

It's a dramatic shift for Kaiser Permanente, which once enjoyed a rare and exceptional relationship with its allies. In the late 1990s, the health care organization entered into a labor partnership that gave the union a voice in decision-making at every level, from the boardroom to the operating room. The partnership was successful for both parties.

"This strike is a major blow to this enduring, well-documented and truly important example of the ability of labor and management to work together," said Ariel Avger, director of the university's Center for Applied Labor Studies. Cornell. Employer Partnership.

The current strike focuses on two issues: wages and workers. In the union's most recent collective bargaining agreement, membership growth was tied to Kaiser Permanente's financial goals, so if the campaign is successful, workers will be rewarded as well. But the unions want to scrap that wage structure and put in place a flat minimum wage of $25 an hour (increase) and annual raises for workers in all Kaiser Permanente regions for the next four years. Employees also want increased funding for members' retirement accounts and career development programs.

Kaiser Permanente agreed to some of those demands, including massive wage increases in all of its markets over the next four years. However, he only proposed raising the minimum wage to $23 an hour in California and $21 in all other markets where the company operates.

In addition to money, the union is also seeking relief from the fatigue and burnout of its members, especially in dealing with COVID-19. The union's 2022 newsletter says, "The pressure on even fewer labor supporters is almost unbearable." But it's not just about Covid. Health care experts at Kaiser Permanente also shared stories of patients facing dangerously long waits for cancer screenings, hospital appointments, X-rays, surgeries and more. These problems have increased since the pandemic, which has caused thousands of health workers to leave the profession. The Kaiser Permanente union spoke of "record layoffs and thousands of unfilled positions."

Staff shortages affect almost all medical professionals. As of February 2020, hospital employment has fallen by about 94,000 and annual turnover has increased from 18% to 30%. At the same time, hospital labor costs have increased by about 16% since 2019. The American Hospital Association estimates that there will be a shortage of 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2026.

Kaiser is a nonprofit corporation, meaning the company pays no income taxes and limited property taxes while still posting record profits. The company generated over $24 billion in revenue over the past five years; It reported a profit of $3 billion for the six months to 2023.

However, in response to union calls for more workers, Kaiser Permanente said the company had met its goal of hiring 10,000 new employees by the end of the year and had hired more than 50,000 new employees in the past two years. . However, this is still to be done, the agency says, and promises to address "all staffing problem areas".

However, that commitment did not stop more than 60,000 union members from voting against Kaiser Permanente, its 98 percent West Coast subsidiary. That's surprising, as Ken Wong, director of the Center for Work at the University of California, Los Angeles, explains: "These are people who work every day to take care of their patients." It's not an easy decision, but it reflects the level of dissatisfaction and frustration many of these workers feel.

And they're not alone, having joined previous nurses' strikes in New York, the 148-day Hollywood writers' strike, numerous teachers' strikes across the country, as well as the actors' and United Auto Workers' strikes. The trend began earlier this year when the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that major strikes in the US are expected to increase by nearly 50% in 2022.

Kaiser nurse explains why she's on strike