In several states, unionized Kaiser workers planned a three-day strike after the health system failed to reach a contract.
Wednesday saw health care workers strike outside Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center in Oakland, California. Credit… The New York Times’ Loren Elliott
Over 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers began a three-day strike Wednesday morning after failing to reach a deal.
Virginia and DC Permanente workers started the walkout by erecting picket lines outside their workplaces. Most Kaiser employees work in California, where many unionized workers and those in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington took action.
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Union Members of Kaiser
Support personnel, X-ray and lab technicians, sanitation employees who clean patient rooms, and pharmacy workers who distribute drugs are union members. Surgery, imaging, and outpatient clinic assistance are their duties. Doctors and many nurses were not on strike.
The previous contract expired on Saturday. Kaiser, a nonprofit, treats 13 million individuals in eight states. This may be the largest U.S. health care strike, according to union leaders.
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The strike is most likely to affect California patients, who may encounter delays in appointments or postponements of non-urgent operations.
Kaiser officials expect walkouts in Washington State to be minimal and workers in Georgia and Hawaii to stay on the job. Only pharmacists and optometrists are striking in Virginia and DC and must return to work after a day.
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“Tens of thousands of frontline Kaiser health care workers across the country are ready for an unfair labor practice strike at 6 a.m. today,” the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, a dozen unions representing the workers, declared. “Patients and workers need dramatic action now to solve the Kaiser short staffing crisis and ensure patient safety.”
He claimed it has “robust contingency plans in place to ensure members continue to receive safe, high-quality care should a strike occur,” and all hospitals and EDs would remain open.
Communication appeared to be ongoing. They reported on Wednesday that the parties “are still at the bargaining table, having worked through the night in an effort to reach an agreement.”
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