Kaiser Permanente medical facilities across the U.S. could face worse-than-usual staffing shortages this week after more than 75,000 union employees of the hospital conglomerate walked off the job Wednesday amid a labor dispute.
A coalition of unions representing the workers says the planned three-day strike will impact hundreds of hospitals in several states, with picket lines in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Demonstrations are ongoing at dozens of hospitals in California alone, impacting facilities across the state, from Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, Sacramento and San Diego.
The main strike hub in Oregon is Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas, and workers are also marching at the North Lancaster Medical Offices in Salem. Washington state has a pair of strike locations, too, at Cascade Park Medical Offices in Vancouver and the Kaiser Permanente Longview-Kelso Medical Office in Longview.
75,000 UNION HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT KAISER PERMANENTE GO ON STRIKE
There are four strike locations in Colorado, where picketers are marching at medical offices in downtown Denver, Aurora, Lakewood and Colorado Springs. Union workers are also marching at Springfield Medical Center in Virginia.
The striking workers are asking for increased staffing levels along with higher pay and other benefits. The alliance of unions representing them have accused Kaiser of committing unfair labor practices as the two sides continue negotiations for a new contract.
Kaiser says there is an acute shortage of health care workers nationwide, but despite that challenge, it has been able to hire more than 50,000 frontline workers in the last two years and is on track to reach the hiring goal it set with the unions this year ahead of schedule. The company also says it already leads in compensation in every market where it operates.
On pay, the union coalition is asking for a 24.5% raise for members over the course of the four-year contract while Kaiser's latest disclosed proposal from over the weekend offered 16% and 12.5% wage increases, depending on workers' locations.
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The union said the strike includes nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, respiratory therapists, patient transporters, home health aides and hundreds of other positions in what it says is the largest health care worker strike in U.S. history.
Kaiser said Tuesday that its hospitals and emergency rooms would remain open during the strike and that the impacted facilities would be staffed by physicians, trained and experienced managers and staff. The health care giant also plans to bring in more contingent workers during the strike, where warranted.
The company said members would be contacted if their care is impacted by any changes to services due to the strike, saying some non-emergency and elective services could be rescheduled at some locations "out of an abundance of caution."
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Kaiser provided an update Wednesday morning ahead of the strike by saying the negotiating teams from management and coalition union representatives were still at the bargaining table after working through the night in an effort to reach an agreement. The strike began at 7 a.m. PT.
