Strike Talks At Kaiser Permanente Hit a Snag

As the largest health care strike in history enters its second day, talks between Kaiser Permanente and its coalition of unions appear to be at a standstill.

More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers, from operational workers to pharmacists, walked out early Wednesday across company locations in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents around 40% of Kaiser’s staff, said later in the day that negotiations have halted.

Coalition spokesperson Caroline Lucas said in a statement Wednesday evening that the workers are “awaiting a meaningful response from Kaiser executives regarding some of our priorities,” which include safe staffing, outsourcing protections and fair wages.

The coalition had previously said that the threat of outsourcing is a sticking point in negotiations. Other key issues being negotiated include Kaiser's acquisition of non-unionized health care facilities.

Healthcare workers in the coalition “remain ready to meet at any time,” but no further talks have been scheduled, Lucas said in the statement. While the work stoppage is set to end early on Saturday, the coalition has said it will extend the strike if a new agreement is not reached by then.

For its part, Kaiser, a leading U.S. health care and nonprofit health plan provider, said tentative agreements were reached on a number of specific issues, including salary increases and a new minimum wage of $23 an hour in California and $21 an hour in other states. Kaiser said it would “coordinate” with union leaders to “reconvene bargaining as soon as possible.”

The coalition said in its original strike announcement that Kaiser executives were bargaining “in bad faith.” The group noted other issues, including concerns about a staffing crisis that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 13 million people are on Kaiser health plans. Doctors and most registered nurses are not involved in the strike, but Kaiser had said some appointments may need to be rescheduled.