By now nearly a quarter million California and Oregon nurses and other health care workers at Kaiser Permanente have overwhelmingly authorized a strike over pay and working conditions. More strike authorizations could come in Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, Washington state and the District of Columbia, the unions said.
Working conditions particularly includes understaffing the unions say impairs quality of healthcare delivery, endangering patients and workers alike, especially as violence continues to grow in the healthcare workplace. Since Kaiser Permanente is the workers’ healthcare benefit, they are actual and potential patients themselves, with two-prong perspective on inadequacies in America’s largest managed care organization.
#SafeStaffing (among others)
The earliest the strike could begin would be Oct. 21 because healthcare unions are required to give facilities a 10-day notice in writing before striking. That notice was delivered October 11. The national unions contract expired in September, and negotiations between labor and management have been as so often in the past. Ironically, KP wants some employees to accept less health protection.
{Management] has proposed a two-tiered wage and benefits system that would give newer employees lower pay and fewer health protections. The unions want Kaiser to abandon that plan. They also want 4% raises for each of the next three years and a commitment to hire more nurses to relieve staffing shortages. Kaiser has offered 1% a year with additional lump sums, and says it must reduce labor costs to remain competitive.
The regional strike vote comes amid national contract negotiations between Kaiser and the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which represents more than 20 unions covering more than 50,000 Kaiser workers nationwide...
Nurses Want What Patients Need
Earlier in negotiations, the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals — spearheading the Alliance of Health Care Unions battle with KP— issued a press release saying management was
planning "hefty cuts" to nurse wages and benefits despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and high levels of burnout among nurses….
"How do you tell caregivers in one breath you're our heroes, we're invested in you, [we] want to protect you, but in the next say [we] want to take away your wages and benefits? Even say you're a drag on our bottom line," Charmaine Morales, executive vice president of the union, said in a press release….."
..."Kaiser Permanente has … for some time now ... violated the letter of our partnership agreement in the lead up to our present negotiations," union president Denise Duncan said in the press release. "Despite that, we are here and ready to collaborate again if KP leaders find their way back to the path — where patient care is the true north in our value compass, and everything else falls in line behind that principle. Patient care is Kaiser Permanente’s core business, or at least we thought so."
The national unions contract expired in September, and negotiations between labor and management have been as fraught as so often in the past. Ironically, KP wants some employees to accept less health protection.
{Management] has proposed a two-tiered wage and benefits system that would give newer employees lower pay and fewer health protections. The unions want Kaiser to abandon that plan. They also want 4% raises for each of the next three years and a commitment to hire more nurses to relieve staffing shortages. Kaiser has offered 1% a year, with additional lump sums, and says it must reduce labor costs to remain competitive.
The regional strike vote comes amid national contract negotiations between Kaiser and the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which represents more than 20 unions covering more than 50,000 Kaiser workers nationwide.
Profits Before Patients
In the 2021 first quarter generated $2B profit, During the second quarter of 2021, ending June 30, this “non-profit” managed healthcare business
reported net income of nearly $3 billion on revenue of $23.7 billion [up 7.2% over 2020’s second quarter of 2020]…
...Expenses related to COVID-19 created the biggest threat to Kaiser's margins, as they increased by more than 15% overall. However, Kaiser made up for much of that shortfall with a strong performance by its invested assets….
Following an interview with the Sacramento Bee published yesterday, in which a California teacher and mother of two young children said
she is frustrated that she’s paying “good money for health insurance and will have waited a year
for needed surgery, she suddenly found herself back on the surgery schedule after her own attempts to communicate with KP failed repeatedly. KP’s statement to the SactoBee included:
We look forward to expanding surgical capacity as soon as feasible while assuring the safety of all of our patients and staff.”
<big>Or so KP management says for public consumption, after telling the workers’ unions “it must reduce labor costs to remain competitive.” </big>
KP’s Q2 report includes this paragraph:
“We deeply and sincerely appreciate our incredible Kaiser Permanente health care professionals, physicians, and support staff who continue to serve on the front lines of the pandemic … and we will continue to focus our resources on providing needed care for our patients...”
<big>Oh, yeah? <big>Prove it.</big></big>
For past DK reports by various kosaks writing on KaiserPermanente —and the bibliography of mine (at the foot of this diary) now exceeding 100 news and governmental reports with the addition of the ones below— click on the KaiserPermanente tag up in the left margin.
- LaborNotes 19oct2021 Kaiser's Outrageous Two-Tier Wage Proposal May Provoke a Massive Strike
- kovi.com 18oct2021 Kaiser Permanente Strike Votes Expand to Hawaii and Northern California
- sacbee.com 18oct2021Surgery delays at Kaiser Roseville frustrate patient who pays ‘good money for insurance’
- northbaybusinessjournal.com 17oct2021 Sonoma County affordable housing efforts to receive over $2.5 million in grants from Kaiser Permanente
- denvergazette.com 15oct2021 Colorado health care worker union sues Kaiser Permanente, alleging company ignored chronic understaffing
- fox40.com 14oct2021 ‘They offered 11 cents more ‘
- sacbee.com 14oct2021Kaiser Roseville health care workers to protest staffing: ‘We are at our limit’
- AP 12oct2021 Kaiser Permanente faces strike votes in California, Oregon.
- OregonLive 12oct2021 Big majority of Oregon, SW Washington Kaiser Permanente employees approve strike
- thehill.com 12oct2021 Kaiser Permanente workers authorize strikes in California, Oregon
- sacramento.newsreview.com 12oct2021 Kaiser Permanente strike standoff in Sacramento area
- LosAngelesTimes 11oct2021 Kaiser Permanente workers vote to authorize strike, citing staffing and safety concerns
- washingtonpost 11oct2021 24,000 Kaiser Permanente health workers authorize strike over pay, working conditions
- nurse.org/ 8oct2021 Kaiser Permanente Nurses Prepare to Strike Nationwide
- capitalandmain.com 8oct2021 Kaiser Permanente Employees May Strike Over Two-Tier Pay System
- streetroots.org 5oct2021 Thousands of [Oregon] Kaiser workers on the verge of strike
- WorldSocialistWebsite.org 4Oct2021 Northern California Sutter health care workers join Kaiser Permanente engineers on strike
- healthcaredive.com 1oct2021 Kaiser Permanente union in California nearing strike
- healthcaredive.com 10aug2021 Kaiser Permanente's Q2 profit down one-third despite revenue climb
- fiercehealthcare.com 10may2021 Kaiser Permanente generates $2B profit for Q1