Carmen Grant, left, and fellow Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers form a picket line as they begin a strike nationwide at Kaiser Oakland Medical Center in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. About 75,000 healthcare workers across the country take part in the largest strike in United States history. Workers demand higher wages and solutions to staffing shortage. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A three-day strike that saw 23,000 Bay Area Kaiser Permanente employees stop work along with more than 50,000 colleagues across the country will end Saturday at 6 a.m., the unions representing workers and the company said Friday.
The labor action over wages, understaffing and other issues started Wednesday afternoon, with thousands of workers setting up picket lines outside facilities around the Bay Area, and the union coalition representing workers warning the strike could be extended.
Kaiser said the strike did not involve its nurses union or physicians, and hospitals and emergency departments stayed open during the strike, with some staff brought in to fill roles under contract. However, the company shut many outpatient pharmacies across the region during the strike.
Negotiations stalled Thursday, but on Friday, Kaiser and the union coalition said the strike would end as scheduled after 72 hours, and that talks were scheduled to resume Oct. 12.
Kaiser said Thursday that before negotiations stopped, it had increased its wage offers to 5% for three years and 4% in the fourth year. According to the unions, Kaiser had previously been offering Northern California workers 4% for two years then 3% for two years.
The coalition said Friday that outsourcing of “critical healthcare duties” had become a major sticking point in negotiations. “Kaiser executives have refused to put limitations on subcontracting and outsourcing, which keep experienced healthcare workers in jobs and provide strong continuity of care for patients,” the coalition said in a news release.
If Kaiser executives “continue to commit unfair labor practices and bargain in bad faith,” the coalition could issue a 10-day strike notice and workers could go on strike again after that period, the coalition said.
Kaiser said Friday that it looked forward to “reaching a new agreement that continues to provide our employees with market-leading wages and benefits, and ensures our high-quality care is affordable and available to meet our members’ needs.”
The company said this week that it has hired more than 50,000 workers nationally in the last two years, including 10,000 into jobs represented by the unions striking.
The company serves 9.4 million Californians. Its contract with the striking workers expired Sept. 30.
Originally published at Ethan Baron