Kaiser workers walk out in solidarity
Kaiser Permanente employees walked out on Thursday morning at Northern California medical centers in sympathy with engineers, who have been striking for about two months over wage disputes.
At least 40,000 members of unions SEIU-UHW, OPEIU Local 29 and IFPTE Local 20, representing healthcare workers, optometrists, phlebotomists, X-ray technicians, clinical lab scientists and other employees, were scheduled to participate in the walk-out. Some of them started picketing at 7 a.m. at Kaiser facilities in the Bay Area.
The engineers have been on strike since their contract expired on Sept. 17 because they say they’re getting paid lower rates by Kaiser than other health care providers in the Bay Area. The engineers include hoisting and portable engineers, who work in construction, and stationary engineers, who operate and maintain systems in hospitals, facilities and other buildings. Kaiser countered that engineers earn more than $180,000 in wages and benefits and that union leadership is “asking for unreasonable increases far beyond any other union at Kaiser Permanente.”
More than 20,000 registered nurses and 2,000 mental health professionals represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers are also planning to sympathy strike on Friday if an agreement isn’t reached by then.
Kaiser said in a statement that bargaining talks with Local 39 resumed on Tuesday and Wednesday and it’s “committed to bargaining as long as it takes to reach an agreement that continues to reward our employees and supports health care affordability, just as we have with several unions this week.”
The clash between the health care giant and its workers come as medical centers prepare for the influx of COVID-19 patients during an anticipated winter surge. Kaiser’s medical centers across the Bay Area, all the way out to Sacramento and into the Central Valley, are impacted by the sympathy strikes.
Kaiser said on Wednesday that all of their medical centers in Northern California are diverting stroke and severe heart attack patients to other centers through Friday. Emergency departments will stay open but patients could “encounter longer wait times this week due to a labor strike,” according to Kaiser.
“During the strike, care will be provided by physicians and experienced clinical managers and staff, with the support of trained and qualified contingency staff,” Kaiser said.
Some Kaiser patients said their health care has been impacted by the strikes. Kaiser has said that “some non-urgent medical appointments or procedures may be affected.”
Kaiser said in a statement that it’s “made extensive preparations so that during this strike, engineering duties are handled by skilled and experienced engineers, including those brought in from Kaiser Permanente facilities in other regions across the country.”