Kaiser health care workers in the Inland Empire continue to strike over what they say are unfair labor practices by the company. Now, lab and pharmacy technicians have also walked off the job.
Kaiser’s nurses, physician assistants, and other health care workers affiliated with UNAC/UHNC are in their third week of striking. They say they’re picketing because hospital management has failed to bargain in good faith.
“Kaiser must stop playing games with staffing and patient care and bargain in good faith for contracts that protect both patients and caregivers,” the union said in a statement.
Also striking are pharmacy and lab workers with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, who say negotiations with Kaiser have stalled. They decided to join the strike on Monday.
Negotiations between Kaiser and its unions have been ongoing for months over wages, staffing levels, benefits and working conditions. UFCW and UNAC/UHNC said talks have stalled and accuse the company of failing to address chronic understaffing and fair pay. Kaiser, meanwhile, says it has made proposals at the bargaining table and is working toward agreements it says balance worker support with affordable patient care.
Celso Perez, a clinical lab scientist for Kaiser, said the company is intimidating workers who are unionizing and has suspended national bargaining without cause with the Alliance of Health Care Unions.
“We’re not going to stand by and be bullied. Nurses have been out here for more than two weeks, and now lab and pharmacy workers are standing with us.”
Valentina Zamora, an urgent care registered nurse at the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Ontario, said the strike is about patient safety and staffing.
“I work by myself as an RN, but there are LVNs, receptionists, and other staff who all contribute to the whole system,” Zamora said. “We wanted to bargain together because there’s power in unity, but Kaiser doesn’t want to bargain with us as one."
Kaiser said in a statement that it has attempted to reach national and local agreements that support workers and care affordability, calling the strike by UNAC/UHNC “unnecessary, disruptive for our members and patients, and counterproductive to reaching a contract agreement.”
“Yet the Alliance’s and UNAC/UHNC’s actions have stalled progress and undermined the national bargaining process,” Kaiser said. “We are disappointed that union leaders chose to strike knowing the effect it could have on patient access and experience.”
Kaiser also said hospitals and emergency rooms remain open, though some pharmacies and labs are closed, and patients still have 24/7 access to same-day care online and through its mobile app.
