Kaiser responds to picketing in California [Times-Herald, Vallejo, Calif.]

Jul. 26—A day after picketing began in front of some Kaiser Permanente facilities to protest a short-staffing situation, the organization responded, saying the "events are not strikes and that the facilities will remain open and operate normally."

Although no picketing had begun yet outside of the Vallejo and Vacaville facilities, picketing was scheduled on Tuesday in Manteca and Stockton and more are scheduled later this week in Fresno and Modesto.

Additional pickets will be held the same week at Kaiser Permanente facilities in Washington, Oregon, and Colorado. Together, they form the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing more than 85,000 healthcare workers in seven states and the District of Columbia.

"We are understaffed, overworked, and stretched so thin during our shifts," said Lori Pimentel, OR Scheduling-Gastroenterology Department at Kaiser Vacaville on Tuesday. "Kaiser has made billions in profits over the last five years, yet they're not investing enough to keep caregivers at our facility. We're demanding that Kaiser put patient care over profits and provide safe staffing at all their facilities,"

In April, the coalition began its national bargaining process, the third-largest set of union negotiations this year in the United States. The contract expires on Sept. 30.

On Wednesday, Kaiser responded to the start of the picketing.

"Kaiser Permanente is the largest union-represented health care employer in the U.S. — with nearly 75 percent of our employees represented by unions," the statement from Kaiser reads. "We are currently bargaining with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents about 88,000 employees in a variety of roles and is part of our historic Labor Management Partnership.

"Our priority is to reach an agreement that ensures we can continue to provide market-competitive pay and outstanding benefits. We are confident we'll be able to reach an agreement that strengthens our position as a best place to work and ensures that the high-quality care our members expect from us remains affordable and easy to access. Given where we are in the bargaining process, it's clear the picketing by the Coalition isn't about drawing attention to new issues, but rather an attempt to create bargaining leverage."

Kaiser also addressed the staffing issues with the organization.

"It's worth remembering that during the pandemic, we took extraordinary steps to support and protect our workforce," the statement reads. "This included providing $800 million in employee assistance to ensure that front-line employees had access to alternate housing options, special child care grants, and additional paid leave for COVID-19 illness and exposure.

"The average employee turnover rate across health care is 21.4% (Source: PwC Saratoga 2022 Survey). While it crept up a bit during the height of the pandemic, we are thankful that our current rate of 8.5% as of June 2023 is significantly lower than the rest of health care."

The statement also addressed wages and benefits.

"We are one of the leaders in employee wages and benefits in every market we're in," the organization stated. "We offer employees market-competitive pay and outstanding benefits, opportunities to learn new skills and grow their careers, and we're committed to providing a safe and equitable work environment. We also want to ensure that we help our employees build long-term economic security with low-cost health insurance, industry-leading retirement plans, and other benefit programs to support their health and well-being."

Kaiser says it has discussed with the Coalition that in some regions it is paying Coalition-represented employees up to 28 percent above the market average wage rates — impacting our overall costs and ability to attract new members. In other regions, we are paying at or slightly above the market average, which hurts our ability to attract new employees and retain the excellent employees we already have.

"We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with our union partners in bargaining," Kaiser stated. "We will reach a great agreement. To get there, we all need to be responsible stewards of our members' and customers' needs and resources and be mindful of the rising costs of health care and our collective role in addressing it."

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