Workers at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical institutions across the United States walked off the job on Wednesday morning in an effort to increase pressure on their employer to address a staffing shortfall that has worsened since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. Kaiser Permanente is nation’s biggest not-for-profit healthcare networks and managed-care companies, represents the largest strike ever in the U.S. medical business.
According to the unions, this is the largest health-care strike in US history. More than 75,000 workers went on strike in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., including nurses, emergency department technicians, pharmacists, and hundreds of others.
Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, California, is one of the country’s largest non-profit-health-care organizations, serving almost 13 million people. The majority of Kaiser employees who have gone on strike will remain on strike for three days, until Saturday morning, except those in Virginia and Washington, D.C., who will be on strike for 24 hours.
What are Kaiser Permanente workers fighting for?
Due to the work done by the workers, they are feeling the burden and tiredness of such work. In a recent statement, Kaiser Permanente said that he had set a target of recruiting more new workers for jobs by 2023 and had achieved success in recruitment.
The union is demanding higher wages, protection against outsourcing by senior management, and advance notice to employees who are called back to work individually, to address the issue of legacy workers.
According to SAIU-UHW’s October 1 report, the Kaiser General has proposed a location-dependent wage increase of 4% for each of the four years of the contract. The coalition rejected the proposal, saying such an increase fails to maintain the cost of living.
According to Kaiser data collected by the unions, around 11% of union posts were empty in April of this year. “Health care staff select this job because it is their favorite occupation. Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, described it as a calling. And employees don’t feel comfortable staying at workplaces where they don’t feel like they can give the best patient care available.”
The strike doesn’t affect patient’s care at Kaiser Permanente
Some patients are anxious about the impending strike, asking how it would affect their own healthcare services and procedures such as surgery, doctor visits, emergencies, and prescriptions. Our hospitals and emergency rooms will stay operational, to be managed by our physicians, skilled and experienced staff members.
Although doctors and most registered nurses are not striking, the short work stoppage may have an impact on patient care. Kaiser Permanente stated in a statement that it had made preparations for the strike.
In Southern California During the strike, all hospitals and emergency departments will stay open. Pharmacies will also remain open, and Kaiser Permanente officials have stated that they are striving to keep urgent care services open.
The healthcare organization stated that it is attempting to avoid or minimize any disruptions to medical appointments, but patients will be contacted if there are any modifications or cancelations.
