Kaiser Permanente nurses and health care workers will remain on picket lines Monday in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas as their open-ended strike alleging unfair labor practices amid prolonged contract talks enters it’s fourth week.
The roughly 31,000 members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals vowed to stay on strike until a fair contract agreement is reached. UNAC/UHCP members include registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, midwives, physician assistants, rehab therapists, speech language pathologists, dietitians and other specialty health care professionals.
Picketing resumes at 9 a.m. Monday.
“We’re striking because Kaiser has committed serious unfair labor practices and because Kaiser refuses to bargain in good faith over staffing that protects patients, workload standards that stop moral injury and the respect and dignity that Kaiser caregivers have been denied for far too long,” said registered nurse Charmaine S. Morales, president of UNAC/UHCP.
“Striking is the lawful power of working people, and we are prepared to use it on behalf of our profession and patients,” Morales said.
Kaiser Permanente issued a statement saying it has “proposed 21.5% wage increases — our strongest national bargaining offer ever — and we are prepared to close agreements at local tables now. Employees deserve their raises and patients deserve our full attention, not prolonged disputes.”
Camille Applin-Jones, senior vice president at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, described Kaiser’s latest contract offer as “one of the strongest nursing contract offers in California this year” once step increases and local adjustments are factored in.
“Despite the union’s claims, this strike is about wages. This open-ended strike by UNAC/UHCP is unnecessary when such a generous offer is on the table. The strike is designed to disrupt the lives of our patients — the very people we are all here to serve,” Applin-Jones said.
The union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Kaiser with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the company walked away from the bargaining table in December and has attempted to bypass the agreed-upon national bargaining process. The union has been bargaining with Kaiser since last May.
“With the strike holding strong, pressure is mounting on Kaiser Permanente to meet these demands and stop prolonged understaffing that increasingly harms both workers and patients,” union officials said Monday. “If Kaiser is truly committed to its nonprofit mission, it must invest its resources in what actually creates *healthy communities:* a healthy workforce, safe patient-to-staff ratios, retention, training, and working conditions that make quality care possible.”
Picket lines are continuing Monday at Kaiser hospitals and clinics in Northern California, Central California, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, as well as in Hawaii.
In Orange and Los Angeles counties, the picketing will be held at:
— Anaheim Medical Center, 3440 E La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92806
— Baldwin Park Medical Center, 1011 Baldwin Park Blvd, Baldwin Park, CA 91706
— Downey Medical Center, 9333 Imperial Hwy, Downey, CA 90242
–Panorama City Medical Center, 13651 Willard St., Panorama City, CA 91402
–Woodland Hills Medical Center, 5601 De Soto Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367