![]() ![]() Workers say many of the positions that became vacant during the pandemic still have not been filled. The pandemic was particularly brutal for health care workers who often worked long hours in grueling conditions, as colleagues fell ill, died, or quit. They argue that management is not moving quickly enough to fill positions and that the quality of care has suffered as patients, some with serious illnesses, often wait months for appointments, face extremely long waits in the emergency room, and experience delays in hospital admissions.Īn industrywide labor shortage hangs heavily over the contract talks. ![]() And, they say, KP hospitals and clinics are severely understaffed, forcing workers to put in long hours and fill multiple roles. The unions say their lowest-paid workers can barely make ends meet in the face of soaring prices for food, gasoline, and other essentials. The coalition, which is pushing for uniform wage increases across all regions, contends that management’s proposal is part of a “ divide-and-conquer strategy.” Peasnall said the union’s stance “would prevent us from addressing fair market wages where we need to pay more to attract and retain the best people.” KP prefers varying wage increases across regions, since the cost of living can vary sharply. KP executives agree there should be an organization-wide floor, but they’ve proposed $21. The coalition wants a $25-an-hour minimum wage across the company. 30 and, after months of talks, the two sides still disagree over pay and staffing. ![]() “Our front-line health care workers are fed up, and we really need Kaiser executives to seize the initiative and move forward on resolving the contract.” “We will be bargaining with Kaiser up until the day we go on strike,” said Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents about 40% of KP’s workforce. You’re not going to get meals,” August said.Īrlene Peasnall, Kaiser Permanente’s senior vice president for human resources, said the Oakland, California-based health care giant’s goal is “to reach a mutually beneficial agreement before any work stoppage occurs.” But she also said the nonprofit has plans in place to blunt the impact of a walkout. You risk problems with infection control. “You are immediately subject to problems with not being able to get patients in and out of the hospital. If workers walk off their jobs, “it will start to impact patient care right away,” said John August, director of health care and partner programs at Cornell University’s Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, who is a former head of the union coalition currently negotiating with KP. The unions represent a wide range of KP health workers, including lab technicians, phlebotomists, pharmacists, optometrists, social workers, orderlies, and support staff.Ī strike, if it occurs, would affect most of Kaiser Permanente’s 39 hospitals and 622 medical offices across the U.S., and would disrupt care for many of its nearly 13 million patients. 4-7, disrupting care for KP patients in California, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C. Unless a deal is struck, more than 75,000 health workers will walk out for three days from Oct. Please tell us what it has been like for you as you have sought and received care, including the good and the bad, the obstacles and the successes. "We look forward to reaching a new agreement that continues to provide our employees with market-leading wages and benefits, and ensures our high-quality care is affordable and available to meet our members' needs," a spokesperson for Kaiser said Friday in an email.We want to hear about your experiences and, with your permission, may incorporate your story into our coverage. Unions in the summer had called for a $25 an hour minimum across Kaiser facilities. How raising wages could help KaiserĪ wage proposal by Kaiser earlier in the week offered an hourly floor of $21 to $23, depending on location, beginning next year and to be increased by one dollar in 20. Outsourcing and subcontracting would have the opposite effect," Kathleen Coleman, medical assistant message management, Arapahoe Primary Care in Colorado, said in a statement distributed by the coalition. Kaiser "needs to retain and attract qualified health care professionals. The coalition may issue another 10-day notice of its intent to strike after Saturday, with further walkouts possible in coming weeks, it said, citing staffing levels and outsourcing as among the points of contention. ![]()
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