The largest health worker strike went into effect on Wednesday morning, as a deal between 75,000 healthcare workers and Kaiser Permanente has yet to be reached.
The strike began on 4 October at 6am PT as the workers — nurses, radiology technicians, pharmacists, sonographers and others — are striking “to protest unfair labor practices and unsafe staffing levels,” according to the latest release from SEIU-UHW, a union that is part of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions.
The strike will take place across the country in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and Washington DC. It’s expected to span three days. The workers’ contract expired on 30 September and new contract negotiations are ongoing.
Caroline Lucas, the executive director of the coalition, said in a statement on Tuesday night: “Given the urgency of Kaiser’s staffing crisis, frontline healthcare workers are ready to sit down with Kaiser executives whenever they’re ready to bargain in good faith — including up until the scheduled strike start time. However, no agreement can be made until Kaiser executives stop bargaining in bad faith and committing unfair labor practices.”
“Patients and workers need dramatic action now to solve the Kaiser short-staffing crisis and to ensure our patients’ safety,” she continued.
“Kaiser executives are refusing to listen to us and are bargaining in bad faith over the solutions we need to end the Kaiser short-staffing crisis,” said Jessica Cruz, a licensed vocational nurse in Los Angeles. “I see my patients’ frustrations when I have to rush them and hurry on to my next patient. That’s not the care I want to give. We’re burning ourselves out trying to do the jobs of two or three people, and our patients suffer when they can’t get the care they need due to Kaiser’s short-staffing.”
Early on Wednesday, Kaiser Permanente also issued a statement on the progress, saying the two parties are “still at the bargaining table, having worked through the night in an effort to reach an agreement. There has been a lot of progress, with agreements reached on several specific proposals late Tuesday.”
The hospital system added, “We remain committed to reaching a new agreement that continues to provide our employees with market-leading wages, excellent benefits, generous retirement income plans, and valuable professional development opportunities.”
Kaiser Permanente is the largest private nonprofit healthcare organisation in the nation, and it provides coverage for nearly 13 million people. Kaiser previously reassured its patients that its facilities would remain open in the event of a strike: “Our facilities will continue to be staffed by our physicians, trained and experienced managers, and staff, and in some cases we will augment with contingent workers.”
However, there is some concern that the strike could lead to non-urgent disruptions in the healthcare industry. “The bigger issue is how long the strike will be. If it goes beyond three days, then I think we are looking at more disruptions and more difficulties for people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and other care services they need,” Janet Coffman, professor at the Healthforce Center at UCSF, told KQED.
Similarly, Savonnda Blaylock, a pharmacy technician at a Kaiser California facility, told the outlet that patients are already experiencing delays due to an existing staffing shortage — a remnant from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are suffering. We have had a lot of people leave during and after the pandemic. Unfortunately, those physicians have not been replaced and we don’t know if they will ever be replaced,” she said, adding: “Patients are having very long delays in care where they can’t get the vaccines they need, they can’t come in to see their physicians, because we don’t have physicians for them to be seen. That’s where the lapse in care comes, and where we are not able to accommodate patients.”
Kaiser tried to quell those concerns, telling KQED: “Since the FDA authorised the updated COVID-19 vaccine, large-scale distribution has been a challenge for vaccine providers nationwide, including Kaiser Permanente. However, we have now received our supply and expect a consistent supply of the vaccine going forward.”
Although there has never been quite a strike of this magnitude, last year, 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association went on strike for three days in the state over staffing shortages, pay, and safety concerns. Earlier this year, in another part of the country, roughly 7,000 members of the New York State Nurses Association went on strike over pay and staffing complaints.
