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Thousands of health care workers are expected to walk off the job at Kaiser facilities throughout the Bay Area and beyond this week for what is planned to be a five-day strike.
Starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday and running through 7 a.m. Sunday, 31,000 registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, rehab therapists, speech language pathologists and other advanced care providers will walk off the job at hundreds of Kaiser locations in California and Hawaii to try to get Kaiser to agree to their demands for a new contract. Kaiser said its hospitals and facilities will remain open during the strike.
The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, which represents the workers, said the walkout will be the largest strike in its history.
The workers authorized the strike a couple of weeks ago after their contract expired on Sept. 30. The union workers claim Kaiser is cutting retirement benefits and said pay isn’t keeping up with inflation and the rising costs of living, even though the union claims Kaiser has $66 billion in reserves. Workers claim Kaiser facilities are understaffed, which has lead to burnout and unsafe working conditions.
In a statement, Kaiser said its turnover rate among the union workers is just 8% compared to the industry average of 20%, adding that the union workers earn on average 16% more than their industry peers.
Kaiser’s current proposal is a 21.5% pay increase over four years. Kaiser said the union’s demand for a 25% increase would require it to increase insurance rates for its patients.
“We respect the Alliance and value their members — our employees — for the vital role they play caring for our 12.5 million members,” Kaiser said in a statement. “A strike is unnecessary when a generous offer is on the table. It is designed to disrupt the lives of our patients — the very people we are all here to serve.”
Kaiser said it will bring on 7,600 health care workers during the strike, plus roughly 1,000 employees who’ve volunteered to be reassigned.
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Bob Redell
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