As members of one union prepare to end their four-week strike at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California and Hawaii, members of another have voted to authorize a strike by mental health professionals serving patients in the Bay Area, Central Valley and Sacramento, extending a wave of labor action across the health system.
Six things to know:
1. Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals began an open-ended walkout Jan. 26 involving 31,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals across more than two dozen Kaiser Permanente hospitals and hundreds of clinics in California and Hawaii. They are slated to return to work Feb. 24 at Kaiser Permanente facilities in both states, according to a union news release shared with Becker’s. The strike will conclude at 7 a.m. Pacific time and 7 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian time.
2. UNAC/UHCP described the four-week work stoppage as the largest open-ended strike of registered nurses and healthcare professionals in U.S. history. The union said “significant movement at the bargaining table” prompted leaders to send Kaiser Permanente a notice of unconditional return to work.
3. In a statement shared with Becker’s, Kaiser Permanente said UNAC/UHCP leadership has accepted its offer of 21.5% across-the-board wage increases. Kaiser said it is working with teams to schedule returning employees in a way that protects patient safety and minimizes disruption.
4. More than 3,000 pharmacy and lab workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers also ended a three-day strike Feb. 12 at Kaiser Permanente facilities across Southern California and Kern County. The walkout was separate but coordinated with the UNAC/UHCP strike.
5. The end of those strikes comes as about 2,400 Kaiser mental health professionals — including therapists, social workers and psychologists serving patients in the Bay Area, Central Valley and Sacramento — have authorized a one-day unfair labor practice strike. The authorization by National Union of Healthcare Workers members follows a vote that ended Feb. 21, with 92% backing the action. The vote follows an unfair labor practice charge filed by NUHW alleging Kaiser unilaterally changed its mental health triage system. NUHW has not set a strike date but is considering holding the strike in March.
6. Kaiser said bargaining with UNAC/UHCP and other unions within the Alliance of Health Care Unions continues at local tables and that it remains optimistic about reaching contract agreements.
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