Planned five-day strike at Kaiser Permanente facilities ends, new negotiations planned
SAN FRANCISCO– SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A planned five-day strike by thousands of registered nurses and other Kaiser Permanente health care workers in California, Hawaii and Oregon ended Sunday, union leaders and the health system said.
California-based Kaiser Permanente said it welcomed back about 30,000 employees who participated in the strike, which began Tuesday and ended Sunday morning. Its statement said its facilities were “staffed with physicians, experienced managers and qualified staff, as well as nearly 6,000 contract nurses, clinicians and others who worked with us during the strike.”
Negotiations are expected to resume this week, with a focus on “economic issues,” the statement said. While unions have also raised personnel and other concerns, “wages are the reason for the strike and the main issue in the negotiations,” the statement said.
The United Nurses Association of California/Health Professionals Union, which represents registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse midwives and other healthcare professionals in California and Hawaii, said in a statement that more than 500 hospitals and clinics were affected by the strike. He said the strike sent the message that “patient care and staff safety must come first”.
He announced plans to resume negotiations later this month.
Sarina Roher, president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, said in a statement that Kaiser Permanente “cannot solve its staffing and access crisis without competitive wages that retain and recruit the qualified professionals our patients depend on.”
Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health plans, serving 12.6 million members in 600 physician practices and 40 hospitals primarily in the western states of the United States.
