From Los Angeles to San Diego, thousands of healthcare workers picketed Saturday at four major Kaiser Permanente sites across Southern California, calling for better patient care and greater respect for their work.
In San Diego, the events included support from elected officials, including Councilmember Marni von Wilpert of SD District 5, Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee of SD District 6, Councilmember Raul Campillo of SD District 7, San Diego County Board Supervisor for District 3 Terra Lawson-Remer, and Councilmember Jose Rodriguez of the National City Council, District 2.
“We’re committed to our patients and we’re declaring to our community that we’re standing up for them,” said Nikki Avey, a registered nurse who works at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego in the labor and delivery unit.
Nurses, pharmacists, midwives, rehab therapists, and other members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) organized the informational pickets amid bargaining with the healthcare company, which provides healthcare to one in four Californians.
On Sept. 30, the contract that includes 35,000 Kaiser healthcare professionals working throughout California and Hawaii will expire.
Picketing began at dawn in San Diego and Riverside and continued to Downey and West Los Angeles throughout the afternoon. Wearing blue T-shirts to signify a rolling wave, holding signs, and chanting “Together We Rise,” the healthcare professionals called on Kaiser to make stronger commitments to patient safety in their current contract negotiations.
“When we say protect care and respect workers, we are setting a new standard. This is not just for Kaiser Permanente. This is for healthcare across this country,” said Charmaine S. Morales, RN, president, UNAC/UHCP. “We know what’s safe for our patients, for our communities, for our professions. And we cannot allow things to continue as they are.”
Many healthcare workers have not fully recovered from the trauma and burnout they experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, healthcare workers must navigate multiple levels of uncertainty, facing daily staffing shortages while dealing with more complex patient needs, but also managing the looming impact of the loss of healthcare for patients due to federal budget cuts.
Leading up to the actions, nearly 20,000 union members and allies signed a petition demanding safer staffing, a fair contract, and dignity and respect for all healthcare workers at Kaiser. Workers delivered signatures directly to Kaiser management during bargaining sessions last week.
“We need every member, every supporter, every person who believes in justice in healthcare to stand with us,” said Kerin Asher Galloway, a nurse midwife at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center. “Because today’s picket is not just about us, it’s about the future of healthcare. About making sure that those who care aren’t crushed under the weight of a broken system.”
“Just a few years ago, we were being called heroes, and nothing has changed. We come to work with dedication and professionalism. We have been good partners. We have been committed to making this the best place to work. We are just asking for them to be committed to us,” said Paul Ciriacks, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Downey.
Saturday’s actions were informational pickets, not a work stoppage or strike, and drew hundreds of labor and community supporters alongside healthcare professionals, according to a news release. This action is part of a rising tide of union advocacy in what has been dubbed “hot union summer.”
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