The company warned the work stoppage could cause delays in people getting appointments and scheduling non-urgent procedures. “I hope that the last few days have helped escalate this issue.” “No health care worker wants to go on strike,” Lucas said Thursday.

The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in the radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments. Some 180 workers from facilities in Virginia and Washington, D.C., also picketed but only on Wednesday. Their goal was to bring the problems to the public’s consciousness for support, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. 31 expiration of a contract covering the Seattle area would enable another 3,000 workers to join picket lines. The coalition had given the company notice that another strike from Nov. The Kaiser strike for three days in California, as well as in Colorado, Oregon and Washington was a last resort after the health system’s executives ignored the short-staffing crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, union officials said. California’s minimum wage for all other industries is $15.50 per hour. Newsom had previously signed a law increasing the minimum wage to $20 per hour for fast food workers, which takes effect in April. Hospitals and labor unions agreed to the wage increase during the final weeks of the legislative session.

Gavin Newsom signed a law Friday night to raise the minimum wage for health care workers to $25 per hour over the next decade. Labor Secretary Julie Su participated in the negotiation sessions.Ĭalifornia Gov. We must continue to have theirs.”Īcting U.S. They had our backs during one of our nation’s toughest times. “Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals – and our nation – going during the dark months of the pandemic. The following X-ray/imaging locations are also temporarily closed: Eugene Chase Gardens Medical Office, Keizer Station Medical Office, Sunset Medical Office and Tualatin Medical Office.“We owe a tremendous debt to health care workers and the hard-working men and women who make their work possible,” Biden said Friday in a statement.

“We have contingency plans in place to help ensure you continue to receive safe, high-quality care during this period.”ĭuring the strike period, the pharmacy at Vancouver’s Orchards Medical Office is closed, along with these locations in Oregon: Gateway Medical Office, Keizer Station Medical Office, Rockwood Medical Office, Sunnybrook Medical Office and Tualatin Medical Office. “We want to reassure you that your care is our top priority,” the organization said on its website. Some procedures or nonurgent appointments may need to be rescheduled, but Kaiser will contact patients in advance. However, UFCW Local 555 President Dan Clay said the union is “hoping for a contract that truly reflects the excellence our members deserve, not simply any contract.” Care during the strikeĪs the strike continues, Kaiser said patients may experience longer than usual wait times. Last week, Washington Kaiser workers represented by Service Employees International Union Healthcare 1199NW, part of the coalition of unions, ratified a separate contract that included pay raises of 17 percent to 25 percent. UFCW Local 555 chose to bargain separately from that coalition of unions. 1, more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers walked off the job across the United States, in what was the largest health care strike in U.S. The strike for imaging services and pharmacy technicians continues at these additional locations: Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center, Kaiser Airport Way central pharmacy, Kaiser North Lancaster Medical Office and Kaiser Westside Medical Center. 10, but an agreement has not yet been reached.

The union is seeking a 42 percent salary increase for its members, a demand characterized by a Kaiser spokesperson as “frankly, not reasonable.”īargaining between Kaiser Permanente and the union continued on Nov. These workers include X-ray, mammography, MRI, CT, nuclear medicine, EEG, cardiovascular lab, special procedures technologists, sonographers, dosimetrists, radiation therapists and imaging assistants. 1 at Cascade Park Medical Office in east Vancouver over what they say are unfair labor practices. Workers represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 walked out Nov. The walkout is expected to last until the end of this week. More than 900 imaging specialists and pharmacy technicians at Kaiser Permanente are continuing to strike across Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Kaiser permanente union strike