July 13, 2023

At bargaining this week, the “non-profit” that pays its CEO $16 million a year gave a clear message to the EVS worker raising a family on $48K a year in LA: “You make too much money.”

It’s unbelievable. Kaiser pays 49 executives more than a million dollars a year, but they think a PCT earning $52K a year in Portland is making Kaiser unaffordable. The corporation that has over $113 billion in investments – including questionable ventures around the world – believes they are paying healthcare workers $450 million a year too much in wages that are “over market.”

We will be submitting a full economic proposal – including wages – at our next bargaining session on August 1, but the fault lines in negotiations are becoming more and more clear: our Coalition spoke about how we are falling behind, struggling to afford living where we work, and losing ground to rising costs. Kaiser spoke about outsourcing more of our work to low wage, for-profit companies – undermining middle class jobs.

Coalition Unions deliver picket and solidarity
action notices to Kaiser Permanente Management at Bargaining Session 4

Shelly Fowlkes of SEIU 105, hands 10-day picket notice to Steve Shields and Jim Pruitt

Why Can’t Kaiser See Our Value?

What’s good for us is good for Kaiser – but for some reason, they can’t seem to see that.

    • We want Kaiser to grow as a union company with leading wages, benefits, and quality care. Instead, Kaiser is spending $5 billion of our patients’ premiums to launch a non-union, non-partnership company that will lower labor standards.
    • We want a guaranteed PSP payout we can count on when we reach our goals. Kaiser is still defending their shameful decision to deny frontline caregivers our PSP while paying big bonuses to managers.
    • We want Kaiser to make meaningful investments in solving the staffing shortage: increase training funds, eliminate barriers to promotion, justify unposted vacancies, create paid externships, provide referral/ retention and recruitment bonuses, and dial back wasteful registry spending.

If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now: we have a fight on our hands and Kaiser thinks we’re bluffing. But we know we’re not.

It’s Time to Be Seen and Heard! Tens of Thousands of Coalition Union Members Prepare for Nationwide Pickets and Actions.

It’s clear that the only way that we will get Kaiser to listen to us is to make some noise. Nationwide, Coalition union members will be picketing and taking action in front of Kaiser hospitals and facilities across the country during the week of 7/24 – 7/29. Contact your local union to get involved. It will take all 85,000 standing strong and united to get the contract we deserve!