Kaiser avoids SoCal strike; Bay Area unions still plan Monday walkout
Health care provider Kaiser Permanente has reached a tentative agreement for a four-year contract with unions covering about 50,000 employees, staving off most planned strikes that were expected to affect departments mainly in Southern California and Oregon starting Monday.
The agreement came after some 35,000 Kaiser workers said they would walk off the job this week, including nurses, midwives, physical therapists and others across more than 300 facilities in Southern California. That prompted Kaiser to alert its members to an indefinite slowdown in services.
But in Northern California, members of the Guild of Professional Pharmacists — which is not among the 22 unions comprising the Alliance of Health Care Unions subject to the agreement — were still expected to strike starting Monday, causing shutdowns of Bay Area outpatient pharmacies, a Kaiser spokesperson confirmed. The pharmacy guild did not respond to a request for comment.
Another union, Local 39 Operating Engineers, also s not party to the agreement, according to the Kaiser spokesperson. A call to the union offices was not immediately returned Saturday.
“KP has not been informed of any changes to Pharmacy Guild or Local 39 Operating Engineers strike plans and our contingency plans remain in effect,” Kaiser spokesperson Karl Sonkin said in a statement. “We are continuing to bargain in good faith with the Guild for Professional Pharmacists and Local 39 Operating Engineers and hope to reach agreements very soon.”
Both union representatives and Kaiser executives cheered the broader agreement Saturday, which came after about five months of bargaining that began in April and saw the removal of the health care giant’s proposal for a controversial two-tiered payment system that would have slashed wages for new hires.
“This agreement will mean patients will continue to receive the best care and Alliance members will have the best jobs,” said Alliance’s Executive Director Hal Ruddick in a statement Saturday. “This contract protects our patients, provides safe staffing and guarantees fair wages and benefits for every Alliance member.”
Members of the economic subcommittee of the Alliance of Health Care Unions approved the tentative agreement Saturday after a late-night bargaining session. It will now go to union members for voting over the next few weeks; if passed, the agreement would have an effective date of Oct. 1.
The tentative agreement includes wage increases every year through 2025 for all Alliance workers, carries no reductions to low-cost family medical and dental coverage and will maintain retirement income benefits and introduce a bonus plan for employees. An Alliance spokesperson declined to comment further Saturday because members have yet to review the details.
“These were challenging negotiations, but this tentative agreement demonstrates the
strength of our labor management partnership and the unique success it can achieve when we work together,” said Christian Meisner, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Kaiser Permanente.
Still unresolved, however — and with anticipated effects for Bay Area residents — are a separate set of contract negotiations covering some Northern California employees. On Nov. 8, the pharmacy guild warned Kaiser that its members planned to strike starting Monday after talks over wages and understaffing stalled.
The guild has accused Kaiser of trying to end negotiations prematurely and giving an offer set to expire with “unreasonable deadlines,” a charge which the health care provider denied.
Stationary and biomedical engineers in Northern California have already been picketing for weeks.
In an email to Northern California members on Friday, the health care provider said that the strike would cause outpatient pharmacies to temporarily close down from Monday to Nov. 22 and encouraged people to refill prescriptions after Nov. 22 if possible.
For urgent prescriptions, staff will provide directions for refills at local retail pharmacies, the email said. Hospital pharmacies for inpatient care and critical services will remain open.
“There’s no need to call or email your doctor’s office at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience,” Kaiser said.
The health care provider serves roughly 12.5 million people nationwide, about 4.5 million of them living in Northern California.