58,000 California health care workers vote to authorize strike against Kaiser Permanente

Members of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing roughly 40% of the Oakland-based health care giant’s workforce, are poised to authorize the use of a strike if bargaining breaks down with their employer.

While balloting continues, the coalition’s largest unit of workers — 58,000 Californians represented by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West — gave their blessing to a strike by a margin of 98% to 2%, the local announced Thursday.

“For weeks, Kaiser sent us messages telling us to reject a strike,” said Miriam De La Paz, a labor and delivery unit secretary at Kaiser’s medical center in Downey. “Their millionaire executives implied we were imagining the delays in care our patients are experiencing and ignored the fact that our families are struggling more and more to keep up with the rising cost of living. Instead, workers are rejecting short staffing and inadequate pay, and we will be going on strike if Kaiser doesn’t stop committing unfair labor practices.”

The coalition has filed a dozen charges of unfair labor practices against Kaiser with the National Labor Relations Board. The unions allege that Kaiser has not provided regional operating margins and other information that would assist in evaluating mandatory bargaining issues and that company negotiators tried to force the coalition to limit the size of its bargaining team.

As part of a lengthy statement, Kaiser officials said they will be working hard for a settlement in the two bargaining sessions scheduled for next week.

“Our priority is to reach an agreement that ensures we can continue to provide market-competitive pay and outstanding benefits,” company leaders said. “We are confident we’ll reach an agreement before the national agreement expires on September 30 that strengthens our position as a best place to work and ensures that the high-quality care our members expect from us remains affordable and easy to access.”

Strike vote authorizes action after Sept. 30

Other union locals in the 88,000-member coalition have also signaled their willingness to walk out. Two weeks ago, roughly 3,000 Colorado workers, members of SEIU Local 105, voted 99% to 1% to approve the strike over unfair labor practices. Roughly 4,000 workers in Oregon and Washington also recently voted 98% to 2% in favor.

These votes do not mean that the unions will strike, but they allow the coalition’s executive council to take that step anytime after Sept. 30. US regulations require the coalition to give Kaiser a 10-day notice before a strike begins.

Workers in the coalition have told The Bee that there’s a shortage of workers that has resulted in patients waiting a long time for appointments, medications, X-rays, hospital room assignments and other vital patient services.

Earlier this year, Kaiser announced premium increases of as much as 15%, SEIU-UHW said, but these price increases won’t come with any improvements in care because the company isn’t making necessary changes to recruit and retain workers. SEIU-UHW said Kaiser is:

▪ Demoralizing workers by slashing their performance bonuses while paying top dollar to managers and executives who do not directly interact with patients.

▪ Offering starting pay for some entry-level positions that is not even competitive with fast food and retail jobs in the high-cost, urban centers where Kaiser operates.

▪ Proposing wage increases that have failed in the past to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Kaiser officials said that the union’s claims about premium increases are misleading, explaining that inflationary pressures are driving up costs.

“Health care costs are increasing because of increased and delayed needs for care in the wake of the pandemic, major increases in costs for drugs and supplies, and increased labor costs because of worker shortages and wage increases,” company officials said. “Wages make up more than half of the cost of health care in the US.”

Kaiser leaders challenge union narrative

Kaiser management said they also have no plan to cut performance bonuses. There have been times in the past when employees would not have received a performance bonus if the company didn’t meet its financial goals, so Kaiser is looking to put a minimum payment level in place to ensure that doesn’t happen. The union, the company said, wants a guaranteed payout regardless of performance, and that would defeat the purpose of the program.

As for wages, Kaiser said, company negotiators have proposed a minimum wage starting at $21 an hour, higher in some areas and roles. The union has said it wants a $25 an hour minimum wage across the company.

“We are leaders in employee wages and benefits in every market we are in. In fact, our philosophy is to deliver compensation that provides wages above the local market — at or up to 10% above market — to attract and retain the best employees,” company leaders said in the statement.

Last week, company leaders said, they made a proposal to the coalition that includes across-the-board wage increases of between 10% and 14% over four years — with additional lump sum payments in Southern California — on top of wages that are in many cases already significantly above the market rate for similar jobs.

The coalition said Kaiser has made profits of $3 billion in the first six months of this year and is offering them wage increases of 2%, 3% or 4% a year that in no way will keep up with the skyrocketing cost of inflation.

By offering different proposals in different regions, the coalition said, the company is hoping to divide and conquer, but the bargaining team remained united and agreed to reject the proposal.

If the coalition does go on strike, the move will affect 7,000 SEIU-UHW members at Kaiser medical centers and office buildings around the Sacramento region, including two medical centers in Sacramento and one in Roseville.