Protests enter 2nd week at Kaiser amid layoff fears
Some Kaiser Permanente workers demonstrated this week outside of local medical centers in protest of expected outsourcing and wage cuts.
It’s the second week of protests across 32 Kaiser locations statewide. The protests were organized by the union SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West.
“The goal is to protect and improve patient care and the people who care for patients every day against outsourcing and relocation that result in lower pay,” said Sean Wherley, a union spokesman. “These workers have invested five, 10, 15 years in this company. And they’re asking for Kaiser to invest in them.”
John Nelson, Kaiser’s vice-president of communications, said in a statement, “SEIU-UHW’s decision to stage picketing and make misleading and inaccurate statements about Kaiser Permanente is uncalled for and counterproductive. If the union’s leadership is truly interested in working constructively and as a partner, as they claim, they should reconsider this path.”
The employee action did not affect medical services at Kaiser and isn’t a strike, according to Kaiser officials. Kaiser, a nonprofit, is headquartered in Oakland.
Union representatives said Kaiser
plans to outsource 245 pharmacy warehouse jobs in Oakland, Livermore and Downey. Kaiser said it is does need to address “regulatory, technological and efficiency challenges” but hasn’t decided how many employees will be affected, and that Livermore isn’t part of an outsourcing plan.
The union alleges Kaiser wants to lay off 700 employees at three call centers in Southern California. Kaiser said that it was “not true” that it had announced 700 layoffs at these call centers, though it does want to have the “latest technology and work processes.”
Protests at Kaiser facilities across the state will continue until March 15. The union is set to demonstrate at a San Francisco location on March 6.