- More than 60,000 health care workers in California, Oregon and Washington voted to authorize strikes against Kaiser Permanente if an agreement is not reached by September 30.
- Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest nonprofit health insurance companies in the United States, with nearly 13 million members.
- The company operates 39 hospitals and more than 600 physician practices in eight states and Washington, DC
- Workers say pay has not kept pace with inflation and staffing shortages have led to long waits and patient neglect.
Kaiser Permanente employees and supporters march in front of a Kaiser facility in Sacramento, California, on August 15, 2022.
Rich Pedroncelli | AP
More than 60,000 health care workers voted Thursday to authorize a strike against Kaiser Permanente if an agreement is not reached when their current contracts expire Sept. 30.
Members of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West voted 98% to strike over complaints that pay has not kept pace with inflation and staffing shortages have led to long wait times and neglect of patients.
The California union’s more than 57,000 members include medical assistants, surgical technicians and social workers, as well as other health care professionals.
About 4,000 health care workers in Oregon and Washington state voted later Thursday to authorize strikes against Kaiser. In Colorado last week, 3,000 workers approved strikes against Kaiser.
The working groups are part of an umbrella organization called the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents a total of 85,000 health care workers. The coalition says the strikes, if they happen, would be the largest by health care workers in U.S. history.
Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest nonprofit health insurance companies in the United States, with nearly 13 million members. The company operates 39 hospitals and more than 600 physician practices in eight states and Washington, DC
The coalition began contract negotiations with Kaiser Permanente in April. The unions’ last collective bargaining agreement was negotiated in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the country’s health system to the brink. A final national negotiating session is scheduled for September 21st and 22nd.
Dave Regan, president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, said Kaiser failed to negotiate in good faith and his proposals would worsen staffing problems.
“Nearly 60,000 frontline workers at Kaiser facilities voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike because we simply will not stand by while Kaiser breaks the law and endangers patients,” Regan said in a statement Thursday.
Kaiser Permanente called the unions’ claims misleading in a statement Thursday and urged workers to resist any call for an actual strike. Kaiser said it has a comprehensive plan in place to ensure continued access to health care in the event of a strike.
In late August, Kaiser called the strike threats “disappointing” and said the union’s claims that it had not acted in good faith were “unfounded and counterproductive.”