Kaiser Permanente Workers Threaten What Would Be Largest Ever US Health Care Strike

More than 75,000 healthcare workers employed by the nation's largest nonprofit healthcare provider could go on strike if a new labor contract isn't agreed to by the end of the month.

A coalition of unions representing members at Kaiser Permanente submitted a 10-day notice to company executives warning that its members are planning a three-day strike to protest Kaiser's "unfair labor practices." The Coalition of Kaiser Permanent Unions warned that members at hundreds of facilities across California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., will participate in the planned strike.

Should the workers go through with the strike plans, it would be the largest-ever healthcare worker strike in U.S. history, according to the coalition of unions. The current largest healthcare worker strike occurred in 2018, when 53,000 workers employed by the University of California Medical Center went on strike for three days, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"As frontline healthcare workers, we got into this work to help people," the coalition said Friday. "It’s frustrating and painful to watch our patients waiting and suffering while we burn ourselves out trying to do the work of two or even three people trying to care for everyone."

The call to strike comes after the unions' final bargaining session with Kaiser ended without a tentative agreement. The unions allege that Kaiser has failed to respond to "numerous dozens of proposals" intended to address a staffing shortage and that executives have been bargaining in bad faith.

The coalition added that Kaiser wants to eliminate protections against outsourcing and subcontracting and slash pay-sharing bonuses to half their current value. The company's "offensive" raise proposals fail to keep up with the cost of living, according to the unions.

“We are Kaiser workers and most of us are working two or three jobs. We are unable to survive and we are frontline employees,” Babu Prasad, a Kaiser worker running for San Jose City Council, told NBC Bay Area during a Labor Day protest.

The coalition represents medical assistants, surgical and lab technicians, pharmacists, administrative staff and other healthcare workers; several unions have voted to strike against Kaiser over the past month. The Oakland, California-based Kaiser serves 12.7 million patients across 39 hospitals and more than 600 medical offices in eight states and the District of Columbia.

“The Coalition unions are positioned to strike in October. However, for the last 26 years of our historic labor-management partnership, we have reached agreements with the Coalition every time, with no strikes. A strike notice does not mean a strike will happen,” Kaiser told CNBC in a statement.