Newsom urges both sides in Kaiser mental health strike to find resolution after fires

Four months after Kaiser Permanente mental health workers went on strike in Southern California, negotiations remain at an impasse, even as thousands of Los Angeles-area residents deal with the effects of the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires.

And now Gov. Gavin Newsom is weighing in.

In a letter sent Thursday to Greg Adams, CEO of Kaiser Permanente, and Sophia Mendoza, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, Newsom urged them to settle the strike through mediation.

Newsom noted that Southern California residents “are grappling with extreme loss and displacement” after the fires.

“Getting our full behavioral health workforce back to work gives us the best chance to address the needs that will undoubtedly grow in the weeks and months to come in the Los Angeles region and elsewhere,” he said.

In October, about 2,400 therapists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists and social workers represented by the union went on strike, pushing for better pay and pensions, as well as more time to conduct patient follow up.

Last week, Kaiser said more than 50% of striking union-represented employees had returned to work since the strike began.

The number of workers still on strike is still more than 1,000, according to a union spokesperson.

Friday’s protest

More than a dozen striking Kaiser workers and supporters were arrested by LAPD on Friday for failure to disperse.

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Robert Garrova / LAist

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On Friday, at least 100 workers took to the streets outside Kaiser’s medical center in Hollywood.

The Kaiser workers marched in the street on Sunset Boulevard in front of Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center, chanting and holding signs that read: “Kaiser, don’t deny mental health,” and “Respect our worth, respect our work!”

Kaiser therapist Marisela Calvillo was among the protesters. She said she and her family had to leave their Pasadena home early last month after the Eaton Fire ignited and later burned thousands of homes.

Her home survived. But she said Friday she knows many people in her community who are suffering from extreme grief and loss.

“I know, like, my neighbors, they lost their homes — or their family lost homes — so they really need that ability to talk to someone to support them emotionally,” Calvillo said.

Psychiatric social worker Kassaundra Gutierrez-Thompson said she was thankful Angelenos came together to get a lot of fire victims’ basic needs met following the blazes.

“Now it’s going to be about mental health — for folks who are having nightmares, for folks who are having anxiety,” Gutierrez-Thompson said. “[Mental health] is as important as physical health. The fact that there’s no urgency to get us back really reinforces Kaiser’s reluctance to actually believe that.”

Around noon, L.A. police arrested 16 protesters who had sat down in the street on Sunset Boulevard. An LAPD spokesperson said all of the arrests were made for failure to disperse.

Why Kaiser workers are striking

Kaiser mental health workers have said they want the HMO to provide workers seven hours of guaranteed time per week to handle things like sending emails, filling out patient charts and other duties. The union members are also demanding the health plan agree to better pay and pensions.

Workers have said they typically see more than 10 patients a day and don’t get enough time to manage duties outside of client appointments.

In a statement last week, Kaiser said the union’s demands on guaranteed time outside of patient appointments, would “reduce critically needed patient appointments by 15,000 every month and is simply unacceptable when the demand for mental health care continues to rise.”

Kaiser said in the statement that, on average, it currently pays union-represented employees in Southern California “10% above market.”

Both sides seem to agree that patient needs are most important, but they disagree on whether those needs are being met effectively during the strike.

In a document filed Dec. 12, 2024 the National Union of Healthcare Workers alerted the state Department of Managed Healthcare to what it described as Kaiser's "mass cancellation of psychotherapy groups across its Southern California region." The groups, the document noted, provide treatment to people with conditions, such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, eating disorders and psychosis.

In a statement to LAist in December, the health care provider said it was “troubling that [the union] continues to spread false and misleading allegations about the impact of this strike on our members as a bargaining tactic.”

The Southern California mental health care worker strike comes more than a year after state regulators hit Kaiser with a $50 million fine for failing to provide timely access to mental health care and other problems.

As part of that settlement agreement, Kaiser committed to investing an additional $150 million over five years to expand and improve behavioral health care for members.

What’s next?

The union said it would honor Newsom’s request for mediation. In an emailed statement, Kaiser said it is “certainly open to mediation at this stage.”

A union spokesperson said bargaining sessions are scheduled for Feb. 12, Feb. 17 and March 6.