UNAC/UHCP members have delivered a ten-day notice of a strike against Kaiser Permanente, covering 21,000 registered nurses, pharmacists, midwives, physical and occupational therapists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and others throughout Southern California.
The 7,400 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7600 in Southern California and 3,400 members of Oregon Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (OFNHP) will also strike against Kaiser Permanente beginning the same day.
Registered nurses and healthcare professionals are striking over Kaiser Permanente’s proposals to depress wages for current employees and slash wages for incoming workers during a national healthcare staffing crisis. Other healthcare systems across the nation—some not as fiscally strong as Kaiser Permanente—are making the right choices for patients by attracting the best caregivers with large wage increases and special incentives, from signing bonuses to onsite childcare.
The strike would affect 366 facilities in Southern California, including hospitals and medical centers in Anaheim, Antelope Valley, Baldwin Park, Downey, Fontana, Harbor City, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ontario-Vineyard, Panorama City, Riverside, San Diego, West Los Angeles and Woodland Hills, as well as hundreds of clinics, quick care clinics in Target stores, and medical office buildings from Bakersfield down to San Diego and Los Angeles out to the Inland Empire.
The last time UNAC/UHCP struck against Kaiser was 1980, before many of its current members were born. In 1995, members voted to authorize a strike but settled the contract prior to striking.
