On heels of historic strike, on-the-ground engagement from Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su helped bring sides to agreement 

Frontline health care workers secure deal for critical workforce investments that bolster patient care 

LOS ANGELES – More than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers reached a historic tentative agreement today for a new contract that will bolster patient safety and make critical investments in the health care workforce at hundreds of Kaiser facilities across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. OPEIU Locals 2 (MD/DC/VA), 8 (Washington State), 29 (Oakland), 30 (San Diego), and 50 (Hawai’i) represent Kaiser health care workers.

The deal was reached on the heels of Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su traveling back to her home state of California to engage in the most recent talks. Su arrived Thursday evening to successfully help the sides bridge the gap on key lingering issues.

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Latina workers are among the most adversely affected by the gender pay gap. On average, they are paid just $0.52 for every dollar earned by white men.

The wage gap cannot be explained by education, experience or perceived choices. Even in states with large populations of Latinas in the workforce, rampant wage disparities persist, with devastating consequences for Latinas and their families.

Visit latinaequalpay.org for more information. 

LOS ANGELES – More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in multiple states – including many OPEIU members -- will go on strike on Wednesday to protest unfair labor practices and unsafe staffing levels at hundreds of Kaiser hospitals and facilities across the United States. The strike, which is expected to last for three days, will be the largest health care worker strike in U.S. history. 

Healthcare workers are taking the work action to protest Kaiser executives’ bad faith bargaining, which is getting in the way of finding solutions to solve the Kaiser short-staffing crisis by investing in its workforce.

"Kaiser executives are refusing to listen to us and are bargaining in bad faith over the solutions we need to end the Kaiser short-staffing crisis," said Jessica Cruz, a licensed vocational nurse at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center. "I see my patients’ frustrations when I have to rush them and hurry on to my next patient. That’s not the care I want to give. We’re burning ourselves out trying to do the jobs of two or three people, and our patients suffer when they can't get the care they need due to Kaiser's short-staffing." 

Strike lines will be set up at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical office buildings across the country, including California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. 

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Following today’s final bargaining session, healthcare workers issued a 10-day Unfair Labor Practice strike notice to Kaiser executives.

OAKLAND, Calif. - More than 75,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente will strike October 4-6 to protest Kaiser executives’ bad faith bargaining over solutions to end the Kaiser short staffing crisis. The unfair labor practice strike will take place for three days at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente facilities across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Virginia, and Washington D.C. The negotiations are the largest single-employer labor negotiations occurring in the United States and the strike would be the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history.

Frontline healthcare workers have been sounding the alarm about how the Kaiser short staffing crisis is hurting patients and employees across the U.S., but Kaiser executives have refused to listen.

"We’ve repeatedly raised our concerns with Kaiser executives about the Kaiser short-staffing crisis, but they are bargaining in bad faith and refusing to listen to us," said Audrey Cardenas Loera, a fees and benefits support specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Hillsboro, Oregon. “Healthcare workers see how Kaiser patients are forced to wait unsafe lengths of time for cancer screenings, room assignments, test results, primary care appointments, x-rays, surgeries, waiting in emergency rooms, and more. We simply want our patients to be safe and get the care that they deserve.”