75,000 Healthcare Workers at Kaiser Protest Make Historic Wins

• On October 4th, 75,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente went on strike. The three-day protest was in an effort to gain more equal pay and more sustainable staffing. 
• In a historic win, workers at Kaiser will make at least $25 an hour by 2024, six years before California’s minimum wage advances.
• This strike also resulted in investments toward creating new healthcare workers to fill Kaiser’s unfilled positions permanently, rather than relying on temporary staff. 

On October 4th, over 75,000 healthcare workers went on a three-day strike against Kaiser Permanente, a non-profit healthcare system that provides care to 12.7 million people. This was the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history.

This strike included nurses, radiographers, ultrasound sonographers, home health aides, and pharmacists who negotiated for a unified wage across all of Kaiser’s 37 locations in eight states. They were also protesting for protections against the nationwide staffing shortage.

Below, we will detail the events leading up to this strike and the historic gains for nurses due to this protest.

How Did We Get Here?

Negotiations between Kaiser and their workers began in April of this year. Unfortunately, after months of negotiations, the coalition representing union workers at Kaiser authorized its second strike in just 12 months.

This strike against Kaiser Permanente included 75,000 healthcare workers, part of the 330,000 Americans who have taken to the picket line since September 2023.

Despite the growing trend of healthcare strikes, Ethan Ruskin, a health educator who has worked at Kaiser’s San Jose Medical Center for 22 years, stated that Kaiser underestimated the union’s willingness to strike and their rejection of Kaiser’s efforts to divide them.

Ruskin is likely referencing documentation produced by Kaiser called “Strikes Don’t Pay For You or Your Patients,” which implies that workers are being “misled” into striking.

This document contrasts with Kaiser’s self-proclaimed reputation as “one of the best places to work in health care.” Kaiser even hosts a timeline of their relationship with labor unions on their website.

On October 12th, five days after the strike ended, negotiations resumed between Kaiser and the healthcare worker’s union. These talks were mediated by the U.S. Secretary of Labor.

Strike Wins

On Friday the 13th, union leaders announced a tentative agreement with Kaiser. This contract includes unprecedented gains for healthcare workers. For example, there is a $1,500 ratification bonus following the signing of this new contract.

Additionally, the minimum wage for all California healthcare workers will rise over the next ten years to $25 an hour. Kaiser workers will reach this goal within the next four years. Kaiser employees can also expect annual raises of 6% in year one and 5% in years two through four.

The following lists other wins for nurses and other healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente:

• Improvements to retiree health care plans
• Elimination of regional wage differences (differences that Kaiser attempted to increase).
• Preservation of performance bonuses (bonuses which Kaiser attempted to reduce).
• Performance bonuses are now partially attributed to patient outcomes such as vaccination rates and lowering patient’s blood pressure (bonuses were previously only attributed to meeting financial goals).
• Tuition funding for new healthcare workers through Futuro Health (Kaiser sought to increase subcontracting to bring in new healthcare workers.

This partnership through Futuro Health is only one of the ways Kaiser is required to invest in attracting new workers. They are also implementing job training programs, referral bonuses, and mass job fairs to bring more people to their unfilled positions.

This investment was one of the union’s primary demands, as 11% of Kaiser positions are currently unfilled, and that shortage poses a real danger to patients. The SEIU United Healthcare Workers president, Dave Regan, believes they can create 25,000 new healthcare workers over the next four years.

Kaiser’s vice President and Chief of Human Resources, Greg Holmes, spoke optimistically about the new agreement, “We believe this new contract will actually help us continue to have some of the best employees … and with those employees, we’ll be able to deliver on our mission of providing high quality, affordable and accessible health care to our members.”

The Bottom Line

This strike marked the 27th nursing strike this year. Nurses are steadfast in their commitment to sustainable working conditions and safe staffing for their patients. Time and time again, we see these issues brought to the negotiating table.

These negotiations not only improve the contracts for nursing unions but also help bring new legislation forward to fight for these changes at the state or even national level. Whether it be California’s governor raising the minimum wage or Oregon passing minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, the demands of nurses are being heard. 

Source for the banner image can be found here.

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