How Kaiser Permanente unions strikes led to ‘historic’ deal

By Kristen Hwang | CalMatters

Health care workers fed up with low pay, burnout and understaffing walked out on Kaiser Permanente twice in 12 months, disrupting care and compelling the health giant to hire thousands of temporary workers.

The company’s blue-collar unions put Kaiser on notice that they would walk out again in early November, raising the stakes as negotiations continued.

Faced with that threat, Kaiser Permanente announced what the Biden administration called a “historic” contract with the union coalition representing its lowest-paid workers, promising steep raises over the next four years.

It was the latest in a string of scorching labor wins in California this year.

In fact, unions did so well in the Capitol that the Kaiser contract wasn’t even the biggest labor victory for healthcare workers at the end of last week. That designation went to the law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed instituting a new minimum wage for health workers and gradually raising the floor to $25 an hour over a decade.

Kaiser workers will achieve that milestone faster under the contract the healthcare giant announced Friday, which raises pay for some 68,000 California workers by 21% through 2027.

Kaiser Vice President and Chief of Human Resources Greg Holmes said the terms of the deal help the organization maintain its reputation as “one of the best places to work in health care.” The company plays an outsize role in California health care, where it serves more than 9 million patients.

“We believe this new contract will actually help us continue to have some of the best employees … and with those employees, we’ll be able to deliver on our mission of providing high quality, affordable and accessible health care to our members,” Holmes said.

More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in multiple states began a three day strike on Wednesday to protest unfair labor practices and unsafe staffing levels at hundreds of Kaiser hospitals and facilities across the United States. This picket line at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center received constant supportive honks from the mostly working class neighborhood in Harbor City on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in multiple states began a three day strike on Wednesday to protest unfair labor practices and unsafe staffing levels at hundreds of Kaiser hospitals and facilities across the United States. This picket line at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center received constant supportive honks from the mostly working class neighborhood in Harbor City on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG) 

But that optimism for Kaiser’s workforce didn’t come easily.

Less than a week before reaching a deal, more than 75,000 Kaiser workers in four states staged a three-day strike, protesting acute staffing shortages and accusing Kaiser of engaging in unfair labor practices. The short but disruptive strike led to patient appointment cancellations across the country and required Kaiser to hire thousands of temporary workers.

Just 12 months ago, a strike by mental health workers similarly disrupted the company. Thousands of therapists and other mental health clinicians at Kaiser’s Northern California facilities walked out for 10 weeks, protesting high case volumes, months-long delays in patient care and widespread burnout.

The prolonged strike resulted in reduced caseloads, additional guaranteed time with patients, and a commitment from Kaiser to hire more therapists, but not before the state opened an investigation into the health care giant’s practices. That investigation concluded last week with a $200 million settlement, including a $50 million fine from the state.

U.S. labor secretary mediated contract talks

Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who mediated the final tense negotiations last week between Kaiser and its blue-collar unions, said the latest agreement was a testament to labor’s power.

“Collective bargaining works. It may not always look pretty, but unions have throughout our nation’s history built the middle class,” Su said during a press briefing Friday. “And it’s through agreements like this one. President Biden and I support workers’ right to organize.”

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