Kaiser Workers’ Walkout Ends Sept. 23

Thousands of labor union members to fight its new contract demands for 1,500 members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers. In Roseville, 350 Kaiser workers joined a day-long strike Sept. 22, which ended today at 7 a.m.

“While we recognize NUHW’s legal right to conduct a strike, we believe the bargaining table is the best place to resolve differences,” said Gay Westfall, a senior vice president of human resources with Kaiser Permanente. “We are bargaining in good faith and will continue to meet with NUHW over the next few weeks, with the goal to reach an agreement soon.”

Sixty workers at are NUHW members. One of them is Emily Ryan, 34, a psychiatric social worker and NUHW member at Kaiser Roseville.

“Kaiser, while making $10 million dollars a day, is increasing health-care insurance premiums of its health-plan members, and wants to raise such costs for NUHW members,” she said. “Kaiser is also under-staffing mental-health services for patients to the point that they have to wait four to six weeks for an individual return appointment.”

According to Kaiser, its operating revenue was $42.9 billion in 2009 versus $40.3 billion in 2008.

Every sixth Californian was a Kaiser member at the end of 2009: 3,223,235 in the north state and 3,284,540 in the south state. Kaiser also operates hospitals in Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Virginia,
Maryland, Washington DC, Oregon and Washington.

Cathy Kennedy, 55, is a neo-natal intensive care RN at Kaiser Roseville. She joined 300 CNA/NNU members in the sympathy strike with NUHW caregivers yesterday.

“We care for patients and care about the employees who work besides us,” she said. Nurses assured concerned patients that 24-hour care would continue during the one-day walkout, according to Kennedy.

Amplifying Ryan in the NUHW, Kennedy noted Kaiser’s profitability in light of its stance on contract talks with NUHW. “We believe that everybody should have health care and retirement security,” Kennedy said of CNA/NNU's motive: solidarity with NUHW.

“Sympathy strikes are a common feature of many labor contracts and long-standing practice at Kaiser,” said Chuck Idelson, a spokesman for CNA/NNU.

CNA/NNU-represented nurses also walked out at Sutter hospital sites in the Bay Area, but not in Roseville and Sacramento, over the employer’s push to reduce patient care, and lower pay and benefits for RNs, Idelson said.

More than 1,000 RNs in NUHW kicked off the multi-day/union job action at Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center Sept. 21. Union members picketed at near three dozen Kaiser hospitals in central and northern California, including Roseville, on Sept. 22.

“It is disappointing that CNA/NNU is asking its members to disrupt patient care and put communities at risk when they have a firm contract in place that runs through 2014,” said Kaiser’s Gay Westfall.
“The contract provides nurses with a two-percent wage increase twice a year, plus a one-percent annual lump sum payment, and no changes to benefits, for each of the three years.”