Some 31,000 nurses, pharmacists and healthcare workers employed by Kaiser Permanente will begin an open-ended strike tomorrow in California and Hawaii, with 28,000 of those workers in California alone.
The health system and the union representing Kaiser workers — United Nurses Associations of California & the Union of Health Care Professionals — have been negotiating for a new labor contract for months. Core bargaining issues include wages for nurses, understaffing and retirement benefits.
"Staffing's been a big problem, wages, working conditions ... and that's just to name a few," said Peter Sidhu, Executive Vice President of UNAC/UCHP. "We will have the largest open-ended healthcare strike in U.S. history."
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Picketing is slated to begin at 12 local Kaiser medical facilities in the following communities: Anaheim, Baldwin Park, Downey, Fontana, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ontario, Riverside, Harbor City, Panorama City, West Los Angeles and Woodland Hills.
Kaiser said in a statement that their hospitals and medical offices will stay open during the strikes, but some pharmacies will close.
