Members of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions plan to begin picketing July 24 to protest what they say is a short staffing crisis and its effects on patients and caregivers.
The coalition represents more than 85,000 Kaiser healthcare workers in seven states and Washington, D.C., according to a union news release from Service Employees International Union Local 49, part of the coalition.
Union members began the national bargaining process with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser in April. Their current contract with Kaiser expires on September 30.
During negotiations, union members seek safe staffing levels, according to the SEIU Local 49 release. They say understaffed hospitals and clinics are unsafe and can lead to long wait times, mistaken diagnosis and neglect, jeopardizing patient care.
"Kaiser Permanente management claims caregivers are overpaid while continuing to demand more from us without providing the staff levels we need and our patients deserve," Don Arndt, Kaiser Permanente lab tech assistant, said in the union release. "Those of us putting our lives on the line deserve great jobs so we can recruit and retain quality staff to give great care to our patients. … Kaiser has the resources necessary to provide those jobs and that care. We are standing united for ourselves and our patients."
Becker's reached out to Kaiser and will update the story if a new comment is received.
In a statement shared earlier this month, Kaiser took issue with union members' assertions.
"The real issue in bargaining is whether to provide one identical, national wage increase for every coalition-represented employee, or provide appropriate, market-based wage increases. In bargaining this week, we have discussed with the coalition the fact that in some markets we are paying 28 percent above the market average wage rates," the statement said.
Kaiser also noted efforts related to staffing, including an agreement between Kaiser and the coalition to a joint goal of hiring 10,000 new people for coalition-represented jobs in 2023. The statement also said while hospital staffing is a nationwide challenge, Kaiser's employee turnover rate of 8.8 percent is significantly lower than the healthcare industry's average rate of 21.4 percent.
Pickets are scheduled this week across the Portland, Ore., metropolitan area, including at Kaiser Westside Medical Center, Kaiser Interstate Medical Office and Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center.
Members of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions also plan to hold pickets the week of July 24 at Kaiser facilities in California, Washington state and Colorado.