Thursday was day two of a three-day nationwide strike for more than 4,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in San Diego County. The 95 degree weather didn’t keep them from marching outside several hospital and clinic locations demanding change.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is calling for more staffing and better working conditions. It has accused Kaiser of cutting employees bonuses and failing to protect against subcontracting and offering wages that keep up with inflation.
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Kaiser has refuted all of these issues. The nation’s largest health-care nonprofit organization says its 39 hospitals, including emergency departments and pharmacies, will remain open during the strike; though, appointments and non-urgent procedures could be delayed.
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Patients can also expect high call volumes and longer wait times. Some labs across the county are temporarily closed. The Office and Professional Employees International Union, which represents Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, said the strike is the largest of its kind in U.S. history, after contract negotiations failed.
“We have had enough. We don’t want to be here. The goal is never to be on strike, but it’s frustrating when the organization itself won’t take the issue seriously and they won’t work with the very people who can help solve those issues," Michael Ramey, president of OPEIU Local 30 in San Diego, said. "We’re here not because we want to be, but we have to."
The workers involved include ER and radiology technologists, ultrasound sonographers, teleservice representatives, respiratory therapists, surgical technicians and pharmacists.
Kaiser officials say that rising inflation has led to a massive surge in expenses and has made it tough for the company to balance taking care of its employees with being affordable to patients. But they also said in several different statements throughout the week that they have increased wages in all markets over the last four years, raised bonuses and remain committed to reaching a new agreement with the union.
Kaiser officials said the marathon bargaining sessions did reach a number of tentative agreements, and they insisted their latest offers address the union's demands.
