SEE 10/4/23 3:30 PM UPDATE: While bargaining ended without a contract settlement 5 tentative agreements reached

“Operations continue as normal”

Kaiser Permanente Statement on National Bargaining with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions

Kaiser Permanente and leaders and members of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions were bargaining through the weekend to reach an agreement.

We continue to make progress on key issues such as a redesigned performance sharing plan with updated payout opportunities. Last week we reached tentative agreements in four key areas:, travel for continuing education, the use of temporary workers such as traveling nurses, tracking of staffing vacancies, and dispute resolution.

It is important to know that while the current national agreement expired at midnight PDT on September 30, operations continue as normal, and we will continue to honor all current contract provisions. Contract expirations do not mean a strike will happen. We remain optimistic that we will reach an agreement and avoid an unnecessary strike, which the Coalition unions have called for starting on Wednesday morning, Oct 4.

Wages

We lead total compensation in every market where we operate, and our proposals in bargaining would ensure we keep that position. In some places, a Kaiser Permanente employee leaving for a similar job at another organization would face a 20-plus percent pay cut, and lower benefits.

Included in our current offer are guaranteed across-the-board wage increases and a proposed $21 minimum wage in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, the Mid-Atlantic States (Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia), and Hawaii starting in 2024; and a $23 minimum wage starting in 2024 in California.

Hiring and Staffing

Despite the acute shortage of health care workers nationally, we have been able to hire more than 50,000 frontline employees in the last two years: 29,000 people in 2022, and another 22,000 so far this year. Included in this year’s new hires are more than 9,800 people hired into jobs represented by the Coalition. Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition agreed in April to a goal of hiring 10,000 new people for Coalition-represented jobs by the end of 2023. We expect to reach the 10,000 new hire goal by the end of October, if not sooner, and we won’t stop there. We are committed to addressing every area of staffing that is still challenging. Additionally, our attrition rate of 7% is roughly a third of the industry average and continues to fall. These achievements underscore the value of a Kaiser Permanente job and reinforce our position as a leading health care employer.

Potential Strike Starting Wednesday

In the case that a strike does begin on Oct. 4, we have contingency plans in place to ensure members continue to receive safe, high-quality care for the duration of the strike. Our hospitals and emergency departments will remain open. Kaiser Permanente members can get updates on appointments, pharmacy guidance and where to get care on kp.org.

We’ll continue to bargain in good faith until we reach a fair and equitable agreement to ensure Kaiser Permanente continues to attract and retain the best people in health care — and remains a best place to work and get care. And that includes meeting our responsibility to continue to balance taking care of our employees and being more affordable to our members.

October 4, 2023 3:30pm UPDATE:

After 6 months of bargaining with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, including a marathon effort that went through last night and into today, our bargaining sessions unfortunately ended without a settlement, and the Coalition strikes began.

While we have not reached a contract settlement, we have been able to reach a number of tentative agreements in bargaining, and our offers to date address the unions’ priorities, including:

• Across-the-board wage increases in all markets over the next four years.
• Updating the Performance Sharing Plan to include a minimum payout opportunity and potential for up to a $3,750 payout.
• Offering minimum wages of $23/hour in California and $21/hour in markets outside of California.
• Continuing and enhancing our existing excellent health benefits and retirement income plans.
• Renewing our strong tuition assistance and training programs, and increasing funding of the education trusts.

We remain committed to reaching a new agreement that continues to provide our employees with market-leading wages, excellent benefits, generous retirement income plans, and valuable professional development opportunities.

Together, we have faced the toughest challenges over the past three years. Kaiser Permanente, our industry, and our employees are now operating in a new cultural, labor, and post-pandemic environment that we are all working hard to understand. We are committed to finding workable solutions for this new environment that meet our responsibility to balance taking care of our employees and being affordable to our members.

We will coordinate with Coalition leaders to reconvene bargaining as soon as possible. We will work hard to reach an agreement so that together, we can all return to delivering on the mission of Kaiser Permanente for the benefit of our members, patients, employees, physicians, customers, and communities.

Meeting our shared staffing goal

On the same day that the Coalition strikes began, we’re pleased to confirm that we’ve met our goal of hiring 10,000 new Coalition-represented employees by year-end – and it is only October 4th. We’re not done yet. We are committed to addressing every area of staffing that is still challenging.

As a reminder: In April we agreed with the Coalition to a joint goal of hiring 10,000 people by the end of this year into jobs the Coalition cares about. We agreed this would be a great success if we could hire that many people into Coalition roles by the end of this year. We hit the goal three months early.

In total over the past two years, Kaiser Permanente has hired more than 50,000 people to join our teams.

Meeting our members’ needs

The health and wellbeing of our members and patients is our top priority. Because we are such a large organization, with multiple ways that members can access care, the impact of the strike is different at various locations. 

We have robust plans in place to ensure members continue to receive safe, high-quality care during the strike.

All our hospitals and emergency departments remain open. Our facilities will continue to be staffed by our physicians, trained and experienced managers, and our great staff. Thousands of qualified and trained contract staff are joining our Kaiser Permanente teams this week as well, to help meet our members’ and patients’ needs. We thank those Coalition-represented employees who have chosen to come to work and care for our patients, members, and communities.

Members who need urgent or timely medical care should continue to seek it at our hospitals and medical facilities. A strike should not dissuade anyone from seeking necessary care.

We will contact members affected by any necessary changes in our services. We may need to reschedule non-emergency and elective services in some locations out of an abundance of caution. Our members can follow any important updates to our care delivery on kp.org.

By Renée Saldaña, SEIU, Press Secretary, SEUI – United Healthcare Workers West

OAKLAND, Calif. – Bay Area unions IFPTE Local 20 and OPEIU Local 29 have approved a sympathy strike in support of the unfair labor practices strike at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical offices in California being called for by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West between October 4-6.

A “sympathy strike” occurs when one union supports another union that is directly involved in a labor dispute.

“Kaiser’s unfair labor practices against SEIU-UHW in our local bargaining have not been remedied,” said Erica Chinchilla, a respiratory therapist at Kaiser Antioch. “A sympathy strike is a powerful act of solidarity where workers strike to support or aid another group of workers. We appreciate our Coalition partners’ willingness to stand with us as we protest these unfair labor practices committed by Kaiser in local bargaining against SEIU-UHW and its members.”

SEIU-UHW members include frontline workers such as respiratory care practitioners, dietary, environmental services, and nursing staff. OPEIU Local 29 represents office, technical and professional employees at Kaiser Permanente. IFPTE Local 20 represents clinical lab scientists, home health therapists, optometrists, genetic counselors, and other technical and professional employees at Kaiser.

Laboratory scientists provide information medical doctors need to properly diagnose and treat patients, as well as ensure correct blood products are given to patients during surgery or an emergency. Kaiser has not informed IFPTE Local 20 of coverage plans of this important work.

Unions in Oregon, Southwest Washington, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., which are part of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, are also planning unfair labor practices strikes at the same time.

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.

75,000 U.S. healthcare workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions protest claims of unfair labor practices

By Isaac Reese, 617 Media Group

10/4/23 7:00 P.M. UPDATE: “Frontline healthcare workers are awaiting a meaningful response from Kaiser executives regarding some of our key priorities including safe staffing, outsourcing protections for incumbent healthcare workers, and fair wages to reduce turnover. Healthcare workers within the coalition remain ready to meet at any time. Currently, the strike continues, and there are no sessions scheduled at this hour,” said Caroline Lucas, spokesperson, Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions.

More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in multiple states are now on strike to protest unfair labor practices and Kaiser executives’ failure to bargain in good faith over unsafe staffing levels at hundreds of Kaiser hospitals and facilities across the United States. 

Over the course of just three hours, the strike at Kaiser facilities expanded from coast to coast, following months of bad faith bargaining activity by Kaiser executives and repeated appeals by frontline healthcare workers for Kaiser executives to make the kinds of investments in staffing that could help stem employee turnover and reduce growing patient wait times.  

The strike began in DC and VA at 6AM ET this morning, expanded to CO at 6AM MT, then culminated with tens of thousands of workers striking in CA, OR, and WA at 6AM PT.

In the vast majority of locations, barring an agreement, the strike is expected to last for three days. It is already the largest healthcare worker strike in U.S. history. 

Healthcare workers are taking the work action to protest Kaiser executives’ bad faith bargaining, which is getting in the way of finding solutions to solve the Kaiser short-staffing crisis by investing in its workforce.

In recent days, Kaiser executives maintaining aggressive threats of outsourcing became a sticking point in negotiations, especially at a time when the company is failing to retain key employees. 

“Kaiser executives are refusing to listen to us and are bargaining in bad faith over the solutions we need to end the Kaiser short-staffing crisis,” said Jessica Cruz, a licensed vocational nurse at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center. “I see my patients’ frustrations when I have to rush them and hurry on to my next patient. That’s not the care I want to give. We’re burning ourselves out trying to do the jobs of two or three people, and our patients suffer when they can’t get the care they need due to Kaiser’s short-staffing.”

Strike lines are set up at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical office buildings across the country, including California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, D.C. 

Workers on strike include those employed as licensed vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, teleservice representatives,  respiratory therapists, x-ray technicians, optometrists, certified nursing assistants, dietary services, behavioral health workers, surgical technicians, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, transporters, home health aides, phlebotomists, medical assistants, dental assistants, call center representatives, and housekeepers, among hundreds of other positions.

BACKGROUND

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions represents 85,000 Kaiser healthcare workers in seven states and the District of Columbia. In April, the Coalition began its national bargaining process ahead of the September 30th contract expiration. On Sept. 22, Coalition unions representing 75,000 Kaiser healthcare workers gave Kaiser executives 10-day notices for an unfair labor practice strike beginning Oct. 4. The Coalition and Kaiser Permanente last negotiated a contract in 2019, before healthcare workers found themselves on the frontlines of the COVID pandemic that has worsened working conditions and exacerbated a healthcare staffing crisis.

At issue, healthcare workers say, are a series of unfair labor practices related to bargaining in bad faith, along with simmering staff concerns related to unsafe staffing levels that can lead to dangerously long wait times, mistaken diagnosis, and neglect. After years of the COVID pandemic and chronic understaffing, Kaiser healthcare workers are calling on management to provide safe staffing levels.

Workers say that Kaiser is committing unfair labor practices and also that understaffing is boosting Kaiser’s profits but hurting patients. In a recent survey of 33,000 employees, 2/3 of workers said they’d seen care delayed or denied due to short staffing. After three years of the COVID pandemic and chronic understaffing, healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente are calling on management to provide safe staffing levels.

Kaiser has reported ​​$3 billion in profits in just the first six months of this year. Despite being a non-profit organization – which means it pays no income taxes on its earnings and extremely limited property taxes – Kaiser has reported more than $24 billion in profit over the last five years. Kaiser’s CEO was compensated more than $16 million in 2021, and forty-nine executives at Kaiser are compensated more than $1 million annually. Kaiser Permanente has investments of $113 billion in the US and abroad, including in fossil fuels, casinos, for-profit prisons, alcohol companies, military weapons and more.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions unites more than 85,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California, Colorado, Oregon, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington

Kaiser issued a statement last month responding to the then-threatened strike.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

Antioch Police arrested two of three juveniles suspected of stealing at least two cars following multiple reports of erratic driving and the cars crashing into each other on purpose Wednesday, Oct. 4 about 8:15 am.
Both stolen vehicles are wrecked. The subjects were detained on St. Frances Drive and Contra Loma Blvd.

Charged with 1 felony, 2 misdemeanors for being drunk, on probation for DUI, carrying concealed, loaded stolen weapon

By Brentwood Police Department

Last week, Brentwood Officers responded to the 1600 block of Ceylon Drive for a party complaint. Our Dispatch received additional calls reporting there was a fight and someone had a gun.

When officers arrived, they saw several partygoers in the street, including an adult female who matched the description of the suspect with a gun.

The female, identified as 24-year-old Zyann Chablis Martin of Antioch, was found to be in possession of a loaded stolen gun. Martin who was heavily intoxicated at the time officers contacted her, was also on probation for DUI. According to unicourt.com her DUI occurred early last year.

Martin was placed under arrest and transported to the Martinez Detention Facility. According to recentlybooked.com, Martin was charged with one felony and two misdemeanors: 25400(C)(2) PC – carrying a concealed stolen weapon (F), 496(A) PC – receiving/etc. known stolen property (M) and 647(F) PC – disorderly conduct alcohol (M). According to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department, as of Monday, October 2, 2023, she bonded out of custody.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

By Lt. Rick Martin, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

At approximately 7:41 a.m. on October 1, 2023, Antioch Police Officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle in the 200 block of W. 3rd Street. Inside the vehicle officers located a male subject who was in possession of a firearm. Officers gave commands to the subject who refused to comply with orders given. The subject attempted to flee in the vehicle but was unsuccessful. The subject abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot with the firearm in hand. Officers engaged with the subject and shots were fired. The subject was transported to a local hospital and is expected to survive.

The subject currently has a warrant for his arrest for homicide which occurred earlier this year in the City of Antioch. Antioch Police Detectives along with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office and the Contra Costa County crime lab are conducting the investigation. All names will not be released at this time as this is an active investigation and pending notifications. All officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave. No further information will be provided at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Duffy at (925) 779-6884 or the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

Effort “to bring back a local voice in community planning” co-sponsored by Brentwood Councilwoman

By Daniel Payne, Our Neighborhood Voices

This past week the Our Neighborhood Voices initiative received a title and summary from the office of Attorney General Rob Bonta that is false, misleading and likely to create prejudice against the initiative.

The title and summary provided by Bonta’s office falsely claims that the measure “automatically” overrides the state’s affordable housing laws. It does no such thing. It gives communities the power to shape local growth in a way that better meets affordable housing requirements – and it restores the ability of local communities to negotiate even higher affordable housing rates, which one-size-fits-all laws passed in Sacramento have taken away.

Brentwood District 1 Councilmember Jovita Mendoza is one of the three co-sponsors of the initiative which has been endorsed by the Contra Costa County city councils of Brentwood and Clayton, as well as Oakley Vice Mayor Randy Pope.

In 2021, Bonta’s own office issued a title and summary for the first draft of this initiative that did not include this misleading language. It correctly stated that the Our Neighborhood Voices initiative would return land-use and zoning decisions back to local communities – instead of forcing top-down mandates on cities that damage neighborhoods and only benefit for-profit developers.

In fact, the Our Neighborhood Voices initiative will increase the chances of more affordable housing being built according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. In their report, the LAO states that the initiative “May enable additional flexibility for affordable housing development.” This is exactly the intent of the initiative – to help local cities choose which state housing laws work best for them and modify them in ways that will make them more successful.

The only substantial changes in the new version of the initiative submitted to Bonta’s office this year was the addition of a provision that exempts 100% affordable housing projects at 80% of AMI, and a repeal of Article 34 of the California Constitution that makes it more difficult to create affordable housing.

Yet Bonta’s office still added the argumentative and prejudicial language that the initiative would “automatically override” affordable housing laws.

“Bonta’s claim that our initiative would ‘automatically override’ affordable housing laws is clearly and provably false,” Brentwood City Councilmember and initiative proponent Jovita Mendoza said. “Our initiative would allow cities to choose where and how new housing projects get built, instead of forcing them to comply with blanket mandates from Sacramento that give for-profit developers a blank check to gentrify and destroy our communities.”

The laws that the Attorney General’s office is apparently referring to are not even correctly called “affordable housing” laws. Sacramento politicians have given developers the ability to override local communities and governments to build luxury housing with affordable requirements so low that these new projects contribute to displacement and gentrification.

A law like SB9, which eliminated single family zoning in California, is being challenged in court because it was passed on the premise that it WILL create affordable housing, but clearly will not. “There is nothing in laws like SB9 that would get us anywhere close to the number of new affordable units that the state says we need,” said Kalimah Priforce, an Emeryville City Councilmember and advocate for BIPOC homeownership. “Instead, we will continue to see projects that are largely unaffordable to most working families, communities of color, or other Californians who need housing most. ‘Trickle down housing’ doesn’t work – and we certainly shouldn’t be relying on debunked theories to guide important housing decisions in our state.”

“Without a fair and accurate title and summary, our initiative cannot go forward on the 2024 ballot,” explained Susan Candell, Lafayette City Councilmember and proponent of the Our Neighborhood Voices initiative. “We are weighing our options to sue, although such a delay will run out the clock for an initiative like ours – which relies on volunteer efforts to qualify. But our fight for local democracy will go forward – and we won’t stop until we restore our right to have a say in the future of our own communities.”

“In fact this politicized attack against our initiative is just further evidence that Sacramento will continue to put developer profits over the needs of our communities – unless we stand up and fight back. And while we focus our efforts on seeing that this misleading language is changed, we will continue to grow our grassroots coalition and fight back for our neighborhood voice,” said Redondo Beach City Councilmember and supporter of the initiative Nils Nehrenheim.

Learn more about the Our Neighborhood Voices coalition and how you can get involved at www.OurNeighborhoodVoices.com