Damien Dovarganes/AP/File
Frontline healthcare workers demonstrate outside Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Hollywood, California on Labor Day 2023.
CNN
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A coalition of eight unions representing 75,000 Kaiser Permanente employees announced late Saturday that they had not reached an agreement with the company, setting the stage for the largest health care strike in U.S. history on Wednesday.
The Kaiser Permanente Federation of Labor Unions, which represents workers at hundreds of hospitals and clinics in California, Oregon, Colorado, Virginia, Washington and D.C., said in a statement that its agreement with the company remains distant. important issues However, the company continues to have “good discussions with Kaiser.” Healthcare workers want across-the-board pay increases, improved pension systems and protection against outsourcing.
The coalition’s contract with Kaiser officially expired Saturday night after 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.
In a statement hours before the contract expired, Kaiser Permanente said it intended to continue negotiations “in good faith” and would continue business as usual through the planned term of the contract. The strike will take place on Wednesday.
“The expiration of the contract does not mean there will be a strike. We remain optimistic that we can reach an agreement and avoid unnecessary strikes,” the company said. “We have contingency plans in place to ensure our members continue to receive safe, quality care during the strike period.”
Hospitals and emergency departments will remain open, Kaiser added.
The Kaiser Permanente union federation told CNN that negotiations will continue during the week, but front-line workers continue to prepare for Wednesday’s strike.
“Healthcare workers want to be in facilities where there are patients they care about,” said Renee Saldana of the Service Employees International Union-Western Union of Healthcare Workers (SEIU-UHW).
SEIU-UHW is the largest union in the union, representing 58,000 Kaiser Permanente workers. “Given the urgency of this shortage, frontline health care workers need to be prepared to negotiate in good faith for lasting solutions to ensure patients receive safe and appropriate care. We are always ready to talk to Kaiser executives.”
Physicians, hospital administrators, and registered nurses will not be participating in the strike, but workers participating in this week’s potential strike include a wide range of Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers, including nursing assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, X-ray technicians, and laboratory technicians. Representing the staff. Technicians, genetic counselors, and many other staff members who support hospital operations.
However, Kaiser’s membership structure protects the company from significant revenue losses. Unlike the fee-for-service model employed by most healthcare providers in the United States, Kaiser patients pay membership fees to the company in exchange for access to care. Kaiser has 12.7 million members and operates 39 hospitals and 622 clinics. according to Go to that website.
Strikes will take place at a time of heightened organized labor activity. There have been nearly 300 strikes in the United States so far this year, according to data compiled by researchers at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
