More than 30,000 union nurses and hospital staff with Kaiser Permanente medical facilities in Southern California voted overwhelmingly Friday, Sept. 19 to authorize a strike.
No date has been set for a strike.
Kaiser and the United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals, which represents registered nurses and healthcare professionals in California and Hawaii, are negotiating to replace a five-year contract set to expire Sept. 30.
The union is seeking higher wages, better benefits and hiring more employees to fill staffing shortages, Charmaine Morales, president of UNAC/UHCP, said in a statement.
“When we stand together, Kaiser will have no choice but to recognize the need to value our labor and ensure safe staffing and care,” Morales said.
The strike vote comes after six months of bargaining, during which time Kaiser management “repeatedly dismissed proposals to fix staffing, protect patients and keep experienced caregivers at the bedside and everywhere else they are needed across the Kaiser system,” she said.
Reached in the early evening on Friday, Kaiser Permanente spokesman Terry Kanakri said he could not immediately comment on the contract negotiations or the union vote.
The union said that higher wages are needed to keep up with inflation and stem the tide of workers leaving Kaiser for better pay at specialty clinics or to become traveling nurses. The higher wages are needed to recruit, retain and maintain current staffing levels, according to the union.
Also see: Kaiser union nurses, hospital staff to picket Southern California facilities
In recent months, the union has been engaged in picketing across Southern California, including in Downey (Imperial Highway); Riverside (Magnolia Avenue); San Diego (Clairemont Mesa Boulevard); and West Los Angeles (Cadilllac Avenue).
UNAC/UHCP represents registered nurses and healthcare professionals, including anesthetists, clinical lab scientists, nurse midwives, optometrists, pharmacists, physical therapists, technical staff and others.
A Kaiser spokeswoman said in late July that the company is one of the largest unionized workforces in the United States, with more than 40 unions representing 193,500 union workers, roughly 80% of its employees.
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