Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente nurses and health professionals across Northern California are preparing to strike Oct. 14 in what union leaders say will be the largest work stoppage in the company’s history.
The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), which represents 31,000 workers, issued a 10-day strike notice to Kaiser executives Friday.
The five-day strike is expected to affect more than two dozen hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii, including major Bay Area facilities in Oakland, San Francisco, Walnut Creek, and San Jose.
Members of the Alliance of Health Care Unions will also join picket lines in California, Hawaii, and Oregon.
“This strike is about protecting patients as much as it is about protecting caregivers,” Charmaine S. Morales, president of UNAC/UHCP, said in a statement. “Kaiser executives cannot keep expanding while ignoring the crisis inside their hospitals. Our message is clear: invest in the people who provide care, or face the consequences of a workforce that refuses to stay silent.”
Last month, more than 1,300 health care workers across Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California hospitals hit the picket line, citing unsafe staffing levels, burnout and risks to patient care.
Union leaders say the upcoming strike follows six months of stalled contract talks. The union’s previous five-year agreement expired Sept. 30. They cite stagnant wages, unsafe staffing levels and limited retirement benefits as key issues.
“Our patients are waiting longer, and our caregivers are stretched to the breaking point,” Joe Guzynski, the union’s executive director, said in a statement.
Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, said in a statement that it has been “negotiating in good faith” with the alliance and hopes to avoid a strike.
“A strike notice doesn’t mean a strike will actually happen,” the company said, adding that hospitals and medical offices would remain open but that some non-urgent appointments could be rescheduled.
This article originally published at Kaiser Permanente workers plan massive strike across California next week.