<small>UPDATE SEPT 13</small>: United Food and Commercial Workers 46,000+ workers voted overwhelming to accept what may be the best new contract in decades, attributed to the good economy and community support as reasons for Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions & Albertsons willingness to negotiate on the deal.
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As of Sept. 13, the union local representing Colorado’s KP workers voted 96% in favor of the October strike in principal. Four in the union Coalition have yet to vote. “The looming Kaiser strike is attracting growing support among politicians, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, presidential hopeful Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. The Denver City Council also came out in support of the strike last week...” Monday, September 16 The union coalition representing 80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers announced agreement on the national 7-day walkout starting Oct. 14
...Union officials laid out a set of four priorities they’re aiming for including “a true worker-management partnership,” “safe staffing,” a plan to “build the workforce” as raise wages and benefits [and decried KP] practices such as raising rates for patients, not [accepting enough low income patients], and the high salaries of KP executives, including a reported $16 million annual salary for the nonprofit’s CEO, Bernard J. Tyson.
The planned walkout would affect jobs ranging from optometrists and x-ray technicians to vocational nurses and housekeepers….
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<big> Late last month, Gallup reported public approval of labor unions at a near 50-year high</big> —64 percent, up 16 points from its 2009 low— as unions representing about 47,000 Southern California grocery workers approached a deal with Kroger-owned Ralphs, and the SoCal Albertson’s chains (Vons, Safeway and Albertson’s, among others).
Since March 3, employees at over 500 stores had worked without a new 3-year contract, their central issues better wages, continued premium health care coverage and pension stability. Big grocery corporations face stiffer public relations challenges since losing major business to chains like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods in the 2003 five-month strike. And this past spring, on the east coast,
...Stop & Shop endured an 11-day strike that cost the company $100 million, plus the money it's had to spend on promotions to lure customers back...
In June, SoCal grocery workers voted in favor of a September strike if agreements couldn’t be reached. This morning
Union officials representing seven local chapters say they will recommend members approve the agreement when voting begins this week. Results of the vote will be announced Thursday.
KP’s national contract with The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions/AFL-CIO —12 locals from four international unions[1] representing 80,000+ workers— expired 30 September 2018, but KP postponed the scheduled April 2018 renegotiation startup. By the time talks later broke off. most locals had approved-in-principle an October strike.
Across a decade of malpractice lawsuits, investigations & fines by California’s Dept of Managed Care, and protests & small strikes by clinicians and support personnel✱, KP worker concerns topping the list continue to be wages, benefits, workplace safety (KP fined $37,757,920 between 2000 and 2018), outsource-created layoffs, and inadequate staffing for the needs of KP’s 12 million-plus health plan “members”. Especially for mental health patients denied legal timely-access rights to care KP concealed with dual records-keeping, and repeated financial/contractual and literal patient dumping, among other side-steps, violations, and foot-dragging with this patient group.*
Union members also eye askance KP’s nonprofit status, in view of oddities such as hundreds of millions invested in sports-realm promotions in 2019 and 2012, the current $85 billion gross annual revenue, and net profit of $5.2 billion in the first half of 2019, the recent $200 million diversification into what’s announced as affordable and reasonably priced housing … On Sept 6, California governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a union-&-consumer-backed bill requiring Kaiser Permanente to disclose more detailed financial data, as other insurers must.
Kaiser is also unusual in the health care industry: As a non-profit health maintenance organization (HMO), it operates in much of its territory as both an insurance company and a network of hospitals and clinics. Kaiser has had a special relationship with unions over the years, and up to two-fifths of Kaiser’s 12.3 million members are in households that get their health insurance through a union.
But leaders of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions have been putting out word that Kaiser is [not the union-friendly labor-management partner it promoted itself to be IN 1997]. The union leaders say Kaiser has been outsourcing and automating union jobs, understaffing facilities, and raising patient premiums, and is now seeking to reduce worker wages and benefits
yet in 2017 alone, the medical care giant’s CEO got a 71% compensation hike to $16mil, ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer site showed in IRS filings. His full package —salary, bonus, retirement fund, etc etc— hit near $16.1million that year, nearly a $7mil hike above his
$9.2 million in 2016 [up] from $6 million in 2015 and $4.7 million in 2014. In the same IRS filings, Kaiser states that its mission is to provide "affordable" healthcare services.
On request for comment, KP cited national-level competition for medical management talent — KP’s CEO was listed among the top-5 best paid in The Business Journal’s 2018 analysis of salary figures alone. The comp packages for KP top administrators
...are examples of what Steffie Woolhandler, MD, cofounder of nonprofit Physicians for a National Health Program, describes as misallocation of funds collected for medical services. Overly generous compensation for executives of healthcare organizations diverts resources that would be better spent on patients, Woolhandler told Medscape Medical News in an interview.
..."This is money that is being taken out of the healthcare system ... money that is not being spent on medications. It is not being spent on doctor visits," Woolhandler said. "It is not being spent on hospitalizations. It's just going in the pockets of these CEOs."
In a commentary for Medscape on the average $13,244,231 , Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD additionally suggested
Next, perform a cursory mental calculation of the salary for the supporting CFOs and other corporate “0s” as well as the “necessary” framework of regional and statewide managers ... . Corporate salaries have built a ravenous machine with an urgent and perpetual need to be fed.
...In the first Democratic presidential debate of 2019, Elizabeth Warren made the following point: “The insurance companies last year alone sucked $23 billion in profits out of the healthcare system, $23 billion. And that doesn't count the money that was paid to executives, the money that was spent lobbying Washington..."
And lobbying in the capitals of the states where they operate.
If the workers’ bargaining committee finds necessary to call a strike, they’ll file a notice with the National Labor Relations Board at least ten days in advance, so alternative provision of care to patients can be arranged (e.g., in Colorado, 45% of the KP workforce is union; the physicians aren’t unionized — they’re the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups that pairs with the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Health Plans (KFHP) … but that may yet change).
Essentially combining attempted extortion of public sympathy and outrage with probably-unintentional proof of how much money rightfully belonging in patient care and worker justice KP management is willing to blow, a statement by KP’s director of media relations called the strike threat just a bargaining tactic that
requires Kaiser “to spend millions of dollars preparing for the threat of a strike event.” She says, “Our first priority is always continuity of care for our patients and members.”
KP currently operates in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington state, and the capitol area: Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. An October walk-out would be the largest U.S. strike since the Teamsters’ 185,000 in 1997.
The next union-management sit-down is scheduled for September 16.
[1] Coalition of KaiserPermanente Unions AFL-CIO: The Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20, IFPTE ■ Service Employees Int’l Union—United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) ■ Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 30 ■ OPEIU Local 29 ■ Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 121RN ■ Service Employees International Union Local 105 ■ Hawaii Nurses Association OPEIU Local 50 ■ OPEIU Local 2 ■ SEIU Local 49 ■ OPEIU Local 8 ■ SEIU <big>Local 1199 NW</big>
✱ KP story sources: <small>REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:
- HealthcareDive.com — Sept 13, 2019 — Colorado union votes to strike at Kaiser, bringing 'yes' votes nationwide to 42K
- goodjobsfirst.org VIOLATION TRACKER: 57 KP workplace violation records and $38,657,920 in penalties on KP between 2000 and Sept 2018.
- HealthcareDive.com — Sept 6, 2019 — Starting in 2020, profit-soaring Kaiser loses California non-profit privilege of minimal expense & revenue breakdown. Another bill, requiring nonprofit health systems to report more on executive and physician compensation is wending its way thru’ state legislature.
- SacramentoBee — Sept 6, 2019 — Newsom signs SEIU-backed bill requiring Kaiser to share more hospital financial data — consumer group Health Access California, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, business groups such as Small Business Majority were among other supporters of the bill.
...As part of the legislation, Kaiser will have to break out expenses and revenue for each of its facilities; break out revenue by type of payor (Medicare, Medi-Cal or private insurance) at each facility; and break out rate increases by type of service (hospital, physician services, pharmacy, radiology and laboratory).
“We think it’s an important transparency measure,” said Anthony Wright, the executive director of Health Access California. “Right now, we do require rate review of our insurers, and Kaiser has had a fairly broad exemption from much of the rate review processes that other insurers have to follow, and what this bill does is fairly simple. It ensures Kaiser is providing the same types of information justifying their rates as other health insurers have to do...”
- <big>NW Labor Presss.org </big>— Sept 5, 2019 — Massive Kaiser Permanente strike could come in October
- American Prospect — Sept 3, 2019 — Kaiser Hospital Workers Mobilize for Largest Strike in Two Decades
- HealthcareDive.com — Aug. 29, 2019 — Kaiser Permanente workers are set to strike. Does it mark a new trend?
- CBSNews — Aug. 27, 2019 — Bill Targeting Kaiser Permanente Financial Disclosures Heads To Gov. Newsom’s Desk
- cpr.org — Aug 26, 2019 — If Kaiser Permanente Votes To Strike, Thousands Of Workers Would Walk Out From The Colorado Health Care Giant
- San Diego Reader — 26 August 2019 — Kaiser to face largest strike anywhere in 20 years — Unions claim company made $5.2 billion in profits the first 6 months of 2019.
- danilfineman.com — Aug 22, 2019 — Kaiser mortgage to rehab Metropolis Heights reasonably priced houses
- LA Times — Aug 12, 2019 — Kaiser Permanente workers in California vote to approve strike
- Medscape — August 2, 2019 — Docs Get Tiny Raises While Nonprofit Healthcare CEOs get >$10M
- Wikipedia — KaiserPermanente as of July 2019.
- ABCNews — July 20, 2019 Oakland City Council approves $28mill sale to KP of public parking garage
- Forbes — Jul 12, 2019 — 85,000 KP Health Workers Threaten Strike
- ABCNews — July 10, 2019 — Kaiser mental health workers strike in San Francisco, demand more staffing for patients
- Medscape — July 5, 2019 — Are Exorbitant Corporate Salaries in Healthcare Unethical?
- HealthcareDive.com — [2nd quarter of 2019] KP net income $2 billion, up from 2018 2nd Qtr $653 million.
- SanFranciscoChronicle — June 23, 2019 — KaiserPerm deal for Warriors arena plaza & Chase Center area to be renamed “Thrive City” could hit $295 million.
- Modern Healthcare — June 17, 2019 — $900million New KP HQ in Oakland
- Kaiser Permanente.org — Local ‘markets’ and other “Fast Facts” as of June 2019.
- ABCNews — March 11, 2019 — Family speaks out after grandfather told he’s dying by KP doctor video robot.
- HealthcareDive.com — [First quarter of 2019] KP net income nearly $3.2 billion compared with about $1.2 billion the prior-year period [following open enrollment seasons].
- search — Jan-Aug 2019 RxHomeFund/ThrivingCommunities/...
- HeathcareDive.com — [First half of 2018] KP posted nearly $40billion in revenue
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer 2019 — Form 990, Schedule J for KP Fiscal Year Ending Dec 2017.
- goodjobsfirst.org WORKPLACE VIOLATION TRACKER - 56 workplace violatIon records and $37,757,920 in penalties on KP, 2000 - 2018.
- ABCNews -- December 20, 2018 — Thousands of KP’s unionized mental health workers make arrangements to meet patient needs for the week before walking out on strike.
- ModernHealthcare.com — Dec 20, 2018 — KP settles in 2014 patient class action lawsuit.
- TheBusinessJournals.com — Nov 14, 2018 — Hospitals and health systems with highest-paid leaders...
- ABCNews — September 3, 2018 — Over 1,000 Kaiser employees and their unions and supporters marched in Oakland to protest planned job cuts and outsourcing.
- HealthcareDive.com — Aug. 24, 2018 — KP reported $39.9billion in operating revenue for the first six months of 2018
- HealthcareDive.com — April 30, 2018 — 55,000 member SEIU-UHW protests KP layoffs & outsourcing of pharmacy warehouse & call center operations.
- ABCNews — September 18, 2017 — Kaiser nurses rally for better resources for patients at 21 California locations as contract end approaches and negotiations drag on.
- HealthcareDive.com — August 31, 2017 — NorthBay Healthcare’s 2nd Lawsuit vs Kaiser Permanente for underpayment on Emergency Department care.
- ABCNews -- July 12, 2015 — Thousands of Kaiser mental health professionals strike for better resouces after 5 years of contract negotiations fail to remedy dearth from increased patient ‘memberships’.
- medscape.com — July 5, 2017 — Despite three warnings and a multimillion-dollar fine a few years ago, Kaiser Permanente still fails to provide members with appropriate access to mental health care,
- Los Angeles Daily News — March 26, 2015 — CalState Student wins $28.2mil KP lawsuit for negligence causing loss of leg, half pelvis & parts of spine.
- medscape.com — Feb 25, 2015 — For 2nd time in 2 years, the state of California faults HMO giant KP on failing access to patients for mental health care
- ABCNews — Jan 26, 2015 — KaiserPerm averts strike by tentative agreement w/ California Nurses Association/National Nurses United for 18,000 employees’ 3-year contract:
...The nurses claimed Kaiser was cutting back on its patient care standards by decreasing hospital services, making restrictions on admitting patients for hospital care and discharging patients early though they needed further hospitalization, according to the CNA.
[Also] that Kaiser provided them with insufficient resources, equipment and training that put nurses and patients at risk.
- PressDemocrat — January 10, 2015 — Kaiser braces for strike Monday by mental health clinicians
- topclassactions.com — Sept 11, 2014 — Class Action Suit alleges KP tells guardians of psychiatric patient ‘members’ they can only receive care if they cancel KP insurance/“membership & get covered by Medicare & Medi-Cal
- Medscape - April 3, 2013 — California Dept of Managed Health Care (DMHC) cites Kaiser Permanente in mental health service cover-up
- sportspromedia.com — June 13, 2012 — Golden State Warriors NBA team sponsor Kaiser Permanente becomes naming-rights partner in 3,200-capacity Santa Cruz arena in deal rumored largest ever for NBA's Developmental League.
- AMA Journal of Ethics — January 2009 — elderly woman suffering from dementia off by Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center at Union Rescue Mission, an organization that serves the needy and homeless, in nothing but a hospital gown
- npr.org — November 2006 — Kaiser Faces Charges for [literally] Dumping Homeless Patient [on skid row].
- kaiserthrive.org — April 2006 — Kaiser Permanente sued for lack of disabled accommodations.
- kaiserthrive.org — March 2006 — Patient Dumping on skid row said caught on tape.
- lmpartnership.org — 1997 Labor Management Partnership Agreement between Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions