Kaiser Permanente workers will begin voting today on whether to authorize a massive strike that would affect Kaiser facilities nationwide, according to the Service Employees International Union, one of the unions representing Kaiser workers.
Voting will go on for more than a month as Kaiser workers in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Washington, D.C. cast ballots.
If authorized, the strike will begin in early October. If approved, the union said it would be the biggest strike in 20 years.
According to the union, Kaiser workers have been without a contract since Sept. 30 and talks stalled on July 12.
The union is accusing Kaiser of unfair labor practices, saying that the healthcare company is paying its executives exorbitant salaries while not providing adequate resources to workers and patients.
Many Kaiser workers have been outspoken about their issues with the company in recent months. Earlier this month, Kaiser mental health care workers in San Francisco staged a one-day strike, saying that staffing reductions have led to severe cutbacks and long delays in service for serious mental health conditions.
Sonia Allen Smith, a radiologic technologist at Kaiser’s Oakland medical center, said in a statement that Kaiser “has abandoned its mission to serve communities in favor of earning massive profits and enriching top executives.”
Kaiser’s executives “are thriving as Kaiser raises prices for patients, undermines quality healthcare, refuses to bargain in good faith and attacks the frontline healthcare workers who have made it successful,” Smith said.
A spokesperson for Kaiser did not immediately return a request for comment.
13 comments
Gheeze; let the banter begin.
S – for you..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ffB7HZlxNo
luv it
Strike! Strike! Strike$$$$$$$
We know you spring to life whenever this happens, TraumaRx.
Be sure to wear your seatbelt on the way to the picket line.
It is so sad. Kaiser use to have an amazing patient focus program Nationwide. Maybe time for new leadership🤔
Let me get this straight. The strikers make no mention of wanting more money . They just want better patient care and lower executive salaries.
Right. Got it.
We want LOWER insurance costs!
Kaiser will lose many patients and respect if these picketeers don’t get back to what they were hired for. It looks very low class.
@ Aunt Barbara
HA HA HA that was funny… If you could get less expensive health care you’d already be with that plan and Kaiser knows it.
So long as you are mandated to own health care insurance there is no incentive to improve services or lower costs. Health Care providers have a built-in guaranteed customer base that is forced to purchase their product – i.e. a revenue stream that has little to no market correction. An oligopoly by government fiat.
The Government and by extension Kaiser has you by the short hairs.
I Love Kaiser and used to love working there, not so much anymore. Patient care is no longer a priority, I am not asking for more money, I want to provide the best services for the patients and that has not been happening. So sad I am no longer proud to work there. Paula you are right leadership is an issue.
I work for a Kaiser Foundation Hospital. They want to cut our wages, reduce our benefits while they gave the CEO a 60% raise to 16 Million per year. There are 35 other executives making over 1 million per year. First quarter 2019 profits at 3.2 Billion.
Meanwhile I work short-staffed almost every single shift. Sometimes critical equipment is missing, such as manual ventilation devices for resuscitation. Transport monitors so we can safely move critically ill patients. In addition, KFH purchases the cheapest variant of every device it can, whether or not it works as advertised.
And yes, it IS about money. How many of you want to make less money and getting worse benefits…yeah. I didn’t think so..
The University of California was very effective employing a similar strategy in the late1980s in dealing with AFSME. Rank and file went without yearly cost-of-living adjustments so the University could hire a new Chancellor at almost twice the salary.
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