2023-10-08 16:50:00
Kaiser Permanente workers at a demonstration in Los Angeles
Photo: dpa/AP/Damian Dovarganes
In the USA, one labor dispute is currently following another: After UPS parcel delivery workers reached a record collective agreement only through the threat of a strike and members of the UAW auto union and employees in the film and television industry went on strike, a three-day strike followed last week 75,000 employees of the non-profit healthcare association Kaiser Permanente, including nurses, pharmacists, emergency service workers and many other professional groups in the states of California, Virginia, Washington, Colorado, Oregon and in the capital Washington D.C. They resumed work on Saturday – without, that an agreement has been reached. If it stays that way, there could be a much longer strike in the clinics and pharmacies of the company, which is also active as a health insurer. Negotiations with management will continue on Thursday, as the union alliance that has brought together Kaiser employees for a joint industrial action told CNN.
The employees’ criticism is primarily directed at the poor working conditions and the chronic understaffing in the hospitals. It denounces the blatant contradiction between the rhetoric about “frontline workers” and “essential workers” during the corona pandemic and the lack of concrete improvements for health care workers. “Frontline healthcare workers remain prepared to take the necessary steps to protect our patients from the dangers posed by understaffing at Kaiser and to defend our rights,” the alliance said. The acting US Federal Minister of Labor Julie Su also wants to attend the negotiations and act as a mediator. The largest individual union in the association, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), announced a “bigger, stronger” strike for the beginning of November. Then a collective agreement for Kaiser employees in Washington state in the northwest of the country will expire.
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According to employees, the number of open positions at Kaiser Permanente now means that they can no longer adequately care for their patients. Data available to the union alliance shows that 11 percent of positions were unfilled in April, as reported by radio station NPR. “For healthcare workers, their job is also a passion and calling,” the broadcaster quotes the alliance’s chairwoman, Caroline Lucas. “People don’t feel comfortable working under conditions that don’t allow them to ensure the best possible care for patients,” says Lukas. According to employees, the crisis worsened significantly during the pandemic. The unions accuse Kaiser Permanente of not being interested in serious negotiations about a solution. The hospital association rejects the allegations. According to the company, we have now come very close to our goal of recruiting 10,000 new employees this year.
According to the California chapter of the SEIU to NPR, an agreement was reached with Kaiser Permanente on Monday that the company should increase spending on training and further education by 40 percent. However, there is no agreement on the second important point of contention between the collective bargaining parties: the question of wage increases. The unions are calling for wages to be increased by 25 percent – also in order to keep more employees in the company, as they emphasize. This would correspond to little more than the cumulative inflation rate of the last four years and would primarily be a compensation for the increased cost of living. Kaiser Permanente has so far offered 12.5 to 16 percent more wages over four years – which, based on real purchasing power, would equate to a significant wage cut.
The employees emphasize that this is unacceptable for them. Many people simply can no longer afford the increased cost of living, especially in big cities. “Nurses are currently sleeping in their cars for two reasons,” Kaiser employee and member of the negotiating delegation Rocio Chacon told CNN. »Firstly, they cannot afford the cost of living locally, so they have to live two to three hours away. “In addition, because they are understaffed, they work 14 to 16 hours at a time and are overtired,” says Chacon. »Your best bet is to live in your car from Monday to Friday.«
The US healthcare sector has been a strategic focus of the US union movement in recent years; There have been massive industry organizing campaigns in many states. It is growing particularly quickly and employs a large number of women, migrants and members of minorities. In post-industrial centers such as Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, it now represents a key industry. Here the unions are trying to build on existing traditions.
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