Employees of health care giant Kaiser Permanente voted to authorize a strike on Monday. Nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists and others represented by the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, voted 96% percent in favor of a walkout.
The union claims the medical group has overworked employees because of understaffing and changes to pay structure.
Kaiser recently suspended more than 2,000 employees who failed to get vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to an October deadline. The union also said the company proposed only 1% raises to employed nurses and a two-tiered wage scale, meaning substantially reduced wages for new hires.
“Can you imagine doing the same work as someone else in your department but making significantly less money?” Belinda Redding, a nurse at Kaiser's Woodland Hills location told The Register.
Kaiser described the new pay syste, as a "market-based compensation structure" that would allow new workers to ultimately be paid above-market wages on average. They said the new system would not be implemented until 2023.
“We’re concerned about the future of nursing and how we recruit and retain nurses and other health care workers who will serve our communities for years to come,” said Denise Duncan, a registered nurse and president of the union told The Orange County Register.
UNAC/UHCP covers nearly 21,000 Kaiser employees. The strike would impact hospitals and medical centers in Anaheim, Bakersfield, Baldwin Park, Downey, Fontana, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ontario Vineyard, Panorama City, Riverside, San Diego, West L.A., and Woodland Hills, as well as numerous smaller clinics throughout the region.
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