| Strike over? Yes. Deal reached? No.
Roughly 31,000 Kaiser Permanente workers.returned to work on Tuesday following a four-week strike. The strike ended because there has been significant movement at the bargaining table — but a full, finalized contract has not been ratified yet.
Workers said chronic understaffing, mounting workloads and wage proposals that fail to reflect cost-of-living pressures fueled the walkout. They frame the strike as a fight for patient safety — as they have seen up close how inadequate staffing can hurt care quality and patient outcomes. The workers who went on strike are represented mainly by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP). The draft deal
The tentative deal that ended this most recent strike includes several key measures the union had been seeking. For instance, UNAC/UHCP fought to end "paper staffing" — a practice in which charge nurses and break relief nurses are counted toward patient ratios even though they are not consistently available to deliver direct patient care. The draft agreement also includes a new internal registry to deploy nurses to cover short-staffed units. A significant wage increase is also part of Kaiser's proposal. UNAC/UHCP had initially been pushing for a 25% wage increase over the four-year life of the contract, arguing it was needed to catch up with inflation and past wage stagnation. Kaiser's offer came in lower, at 21.5% — which the union said didn't fully meet its members' needs or match what other unions had won. Despite that, after negotiations, UNAC/UHCP decided to accept the 21.5% deal, saying that it's part of a broader package that includes actual wins for safer staffing. Soundbites
In a statement issued this week, UNAC/UHCP President Charmaine Morales said the union's commitment to its patients has never been stronger. "We went up against a $76 billion organization that tried to silence us with money while ignoring safety. We didn't let that happen. We won real protections for our patients, and we will enforce every single one of them. Kaiser now knows that this union is not going away, and that the healthcare professionals who keep this system running will always put patients first," Morales said. Kaiser called the strike "entirely unnecessary" in a statement of its own. The health system went on to say that the union's acceptance of the 21.5% wage increase is "good progress" that can move the two parties closer to a contract agreement. "Our bargaining with UNAC/UHCP and each of the Alliance of Health Care Unions continues at local tables. We are continuing to make progress and remain optimistic about reaching contract agreements soon," a Kaiser spokesperson said. — By Katie Adams | 
No comments