Kaiser Permanente workers say the healthcare company declined proposed contract changes, now prepared to strike due to a lack of safe staffing, saying it puts the health and safety of patients and workers at risk.
After more than a year of unprecedented challenges for health care workers, Kaiser Permanente employees say the health care giant is refusing to adjust proposed contract details and are considering authorizing a strike.
The Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) sent out a press release on Sept. 24, detailing a breakdown of negotiations between OFNHP and Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser Permanente staff, represented by OFNHP, will join members of several other unions across the country in voting to authorize a strike, if negotiations with Kaiser Permanente continue to break down.
OFNHP cites low 1% hourly wage raises and a two-tiered pay system proposed by Kaiser Permanente as a main concern for employees.
“These proposals would accelerate the already devastating staffing crisis, putting our patients at risk in the future,” according to the release.
Kaiser Permanente employees have been in negotiations since June. OFNHP representative Shane Burley said workers will not vote to strike until after Sept. 30, when 3,400 Kaiser Permanente employees’ contracts expire.
“Striking is always our last resort, but Kaiser seems determined to push forward proposals that would hurt staff, patients, and our entire public health system,” Kaiser Permanente registered nurse (RN) and president of OFNHP Jodi Barschow said. “Kaiser needs to do the right thing and put our patients before profits.”
Kaiser Permanente and other healthcare providers are critically understaffed, according to Burley, both in Portland and across the country. The primary issue reported by Kaiser Permanente health professionals, he said, is a lack of safe staffing, which employees said leads to long wait times for patients and affects overall patient care.
“The main issue that this is all about is staffing,” Burley said. “Staffing is an absolute crisis in healthcare everywhere, especially at Kaiser.”
Frontline medical workers also say staffing is a chronic issue with Kaiser Permanente, and it has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think one of the most important things is staffing, so that we can provide not only increased access, but also be able to continue to provide good care and be able in the future to be able to provide the best care,” Portland Kaiser RN and OFNHP representative Sarina Roher said. “Right now everybody is struggling, but I feel like we would be in a much better place had we been better prepared. And so I want to have the outcome of this bargaining be able to put us in a position where we can in the future provide the best care, and if Kaiser does not agree to some of our conditions, then I don’t think we would be in a position to do that.”
Kaiser Permanente RNs that are represented by OFNHP filled out a survey asking how they are responding to the crisis. Of those, 42.2% report that they are considering leaving the field entirely over the treatment they have received at Kaiser. More than 60% report they are considering leaving Kaiser Permanente as a company, and nearly 60% are considering leaving their department.
Additional professional units, such as techs, physician assistants, dental staff, and lab pros; responded with similar results as well. In all units, between 30-40% said they were considering leaving the medical field entirely because of Kaiser’s behavior. These same workers were asked if they would be willing to strike, and 93% said that if the strike vote was taken now, they would vote to strike.
From labor groups to politicians, Kaiser Permanente nurses have received substantial support from outside of their immediate medical community.
The Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) shared their support for Kaiser Permanente workers on Twitter and advocated for their members to plan strike support for Kaiser Permanente employees, and 32 Oregon legislators and state senators released a letter stating their full support to the nurses and healthcare professionals at Kaiser Permanente.
“The Oregon Legislature’s Clinicians’ Caucus along with our legislative colleagues are dedicated to protecting the health and safety of our communities,” reads the letter sent to OFNHP. “We stand in firm solidarity with you as you negotiate with Kaiser Permanente for a contract that centers safe staffing ratios and safe working conditions while preserving your ability to recruit and retain nurses who care for our constituents at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.”
The letter was led by Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Portland), who is a Kaiser Permanente physician, and Rep. Rachel Prusak (D-Tualatin), who is a nurse. They were joined by thirty other legislators, including Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland), Sen. Chris Gorsek (D-Troutdale), Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas), Rep. Mark Meek (D-Clackamas), and many others.
“We’ve had a pandemic, and our care workers have been called heroes, and it’s like they think they’re thanking us for that, for the life saving work, for the long hours, for the the real moral injury that’s caused by the nature of working in a pandemic environment, by offering low wages and no solutions,” Portland Kaiser Permanente physical therapist Nicole Brun-Cottan said.
On Sept. 27, Kaiser Permanente workers held a rally at their Portland location, calling for Kaiser Permanente to support their conditions and asking for community support. On Oct. 4, OFNHP members will be able to begin the process to authorize a strike, if they choose to do so.
Street Roots reached out to a Kaiser Permanente but were unable to reach a media contact for a comment on the proposed strike.
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