This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA.
As of October 1st, Kaiser has yet to bring a reasonable offer to the table, so the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is still planning to go out on strike October 4th-6th. Kaiser continues to refuse to offer “raises” that actually meet inflation. Plus they are still offering different raises for different locations. This will worsen discrepancies in how much workers get paid for doing the same job, even in places where the cost of living is similar!
Additionally, Kaiser is only offering a subpar annual bonus for workers, despite our continued effort to provide quality care in understaffed conditions. They also want to outsource the revenue cycle, making it easier for non-Kaiser employees who have likely never interacted with a patient to manage Kaiser’s financial decisions.
Whether this strike happens or not, Kaiser is making one thing clear: they have no respect for the workers who come in day-in-and-day-out to provide the high quality care Kaiser prides itself on. If they did, they would not be constantly fighting to give us less in this contract!
