'A slap in the face': nurses' strike signals Kaiser's end as union haven

[turbinetree]

The management’s initial offer of 1%-a-year raise and 26% cut in salary for new hires seen as a wage squeeze during pandemic

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Across corporate America, relations between companies and their labor unions range from chilly to ice-cold. Not at Kaiser Permanente – the California-based healthcare giant. Kaiser has long been seen as having the nation’s best labor-management partnership. Now the partnership finds itself in crisis as 34,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers prepare to strike on Monday, in what would be the largest walkout in this fall’s strike wave.

After risking their lives during the pandemic, many Kaiser workers are asking how things could have turned so sour in the much-praised partnership, in which managers and union members team up at hundreds of Kaiser facilities to find innovative ways to improve care and efficiency, saving the company tens of millions of dollars a year.

Last week one of Kaiser’s nurses’ unions served notice it would strike on 15 November, and soon after, several other unions also voted to strike. The nurses’ union – United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care – complained that management’s latest employment offer would “depress wages for current employees and slash wages for incoming workers”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/13/kaiser-permanente-nurses-unions-strike

[msfiddlestix]

1. I thought the strike was limited to Pharmacy workers

Word got out in my community that Kaiser Pharmacy workers were going on a planned "shutdown" limited in time from the 15th to the 22nd. I didn't realize Nurses were striking too.

Checked in on my refill status and placed a couple of orders a couple of days ago just to get through any hiccups in the schedule.

Wonder if Kaiser will come to an agreement before Monday.

We'll see....

[LizBeth]

2. Did refills and made appt Friday and recording saying nurses are going on strike.

26% cut for new hires is atrocious and 1% raise is an insult. I am so disappointed. I really like Kaiser. Most in the medical area is increasing wage.

[msfiddlestix]

3. Yeah, I'm fairly blown away.

I really don't want to change providers. I hope Kaiser mgmt comes to an agreement.

[CrispyQ]

4. I like Kaiser, too & hate reading this news.

I just visited my local medical center & have a "How did we do?" survey in my inbox. I'm going to express my disappointment.

I asked my nurse how the past year & a half has been for her & she said she'd never seen people so rude before in her years as a nurse. Then she thanked me for being kind, when all I did was chat with her during my visit.

[LizBeth]

5. Doctor was explaining something about a medication with bad rap. When addressing

the bad rap and why I needed to take it, I told her.... Hey, you are the one that went to school. I am gonna listen to you. She kept talking, explaining the issue, stopped, looked at me and said... Thank you, not enough people say that. I thought it funny.

Also, I got a job this summer with Nova Health scheduling and sending notes to providers and numerous other things. I have a huge shift in my view of our medical community now and what they are dealing with. To say an increase in rude is to put it mildly. Lots of providers walking away.

I had people literally yelling in my ear for me simply asking how I could help them. One I told to lower volume because he was literally causing me pain. Demanding a same day appt when none, and every one expecting to get that same day, how would that work? In a short amount of time, I lost a lot of patience with some of the patients.

[CrispyQ]

7. Of all the pandemic tweets, I think this one stays with me the most.

[Sympthsical]

6. They've already scheduled and prepped the temp replacements

Some of the replacements are being put on 12 hour shifts. A lot of them are work from home types, so they're all thrilled.

[Nittersing]

8. Bloomberg is reporting a tentative agreement

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-13/kaiser-permanente-reaches-agreement-with-unions-averting-strike

The agreement includes:

Guaranteed wage increases each year through 2025 in every region
No reductions in health benefits
Maintaining retirement benefits
Addition of bonus plans
New safe staffing and workload language

[NBachers]

9. Shit, I've got a Kaiser procedure scheduled for Tuesday 11/16 where I'll be knocked out on the table

I was already a bit apprehensive about any post-op prescriptions they might give me; now I'm worried about the medical staff.

I had three days and nights in Kaiser a couple of weeks ago, and I've only got complimentary things to say about every medical staff person I encountered. Cheerful, professional, knowledgeable, concerned, and friendly. They couldn't have been better.