“We look forward to reaching a new agreement that continues to provide our employees with market-leading wages and benefits, and ensures our high-quality care is affordable and available to meet our members’ needs,” Kaiser Permanente said in a statement last week. Kaiser also says it would continue to provide strong benefits and has hired 10,000 Coalition-represented workers this year. “This week, Kaiser executives will have another opportunity to listen to frontline staff, to follow the law in formal discussions, and to begin investing in ways that will solve the Kaiser short staffing crisis,” Lucas said in a statement Monday.įor its part, Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, Calif., says it has offered wage increases, including minimum wages across the entire system. They say they want provisions to protect workers from subcontracting and outsourcing.Ĭaroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, said the health system hasn’t listened to the concerns of frontline workers about “the impacts that the Kaiser short staffing is having on patients.” The Coalition also said Monday that seeking protections against outsourcing is emerging as a major issue in the contract dispute. They also say they are seeking better compensation. Union leaders say they are seeking higher staffing levels, saying it’s key to retaining workers and improving patient care. The Coalition said a second strike, if it happens, would be longer. Most were on the picket lines for three days. More than 75,000 union workers, including nurses, pharmacists, radiology technologists, and others, walked out last week. The health care industry alone has been hit by several strikes this year as it confronts burnout from heavy workloads – problems that were exacerbated greatly by the COVID-19 pandemic.The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said Monday that it had notified the health system’s leaders that they could stage a second strike in November, if the two sides can’t reach a deal. “I do think there’s a deep connection between what health care workers had to go through on the front lines of a global pandemic,” he said, adding the feeling now is “they really deserve a lot more in terms of pay, staffing, workplace health and safety”. He told AP the strike would likely hurt Kaiser’s reputation and its narrative of patient care more than its bottom line. ![]() The strike comes in a year when there have been work stoppages within multiple industries, including transportation, entertainment and hospitality.Īt least 453,000 workers have participated in 312 strikes in the US this year, according to Johnnie Kallas, a PhD candidate and the project director of Cornell University’s Labor Action Tracker. The company said it would “reconvene bargaining as soon as possible”. Kaiser said in a statement late on Wednesday that while no contract deal was reached, there were tentative agreements on a number of unspecified issues. “Currently, the strike continues, and there are no sessions scheduled at this hour,” said a coalition statement on Wednesday night. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said it was “awaiting a meaningful response from Kaiser executives regarding some of our priorities”, including demands for pay raises and increased staffing. Still, appointments and nonurgent procedures could be pushed back. Doctors are not participating, and Kaiser said it was bringing in thousands of temporary workers to fill the gaps. ![]() ![]() Kaiser said its 39 hospitals, including emergency rooms, will remain open but warned the massive strike could cause delays. “Ever since the pandemic hit, we lost a lot of members and we never recovered them,” x-ray technician Armando Velasco told the AFP news agency. Others said they were underpaid and overworked. “We want to be inside just taking care of our patients.” “Kaiser has not been bargaining with us in good faith and so it’s pushing us to come out here and strike,” Jacquelyn Duley, a radiologic technologist among the hundreds of picketers at Kaiser Permanente Orange County – Irvine Medical Center, told The Associated Press (AP) news agency. Most of the Oakland-based company’s facilities are in California, where scores of workers picketed outside hospitals. How worried should we be? list 2 of 4 China tries to ‘bury the memory’ and trauma of zero-COVID era list 3 of 4 ‘Bloodbath’: Israel continues to target Gaza hospitals and civilians list 4 of 4 Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf dies at 86, Sheikh Meshaal named successor end of list Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 New COVID strain JN.1 is spreading fast.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |