Kaiser Permanente National Bargaining Update

Labor Kick-Off Rally

On May 5th, more than 300 Alliance members from every region gathered at Kaiser South Bay for a Kick-Off Rally and March to demonstrate our solidarity and strength. OFNHP President Sarina Roher highlighted that we are fighting for “wins that deliver real wage increases, get serious about recruitment and retention strategies, and demand the respect that healthcare workers deserve.”

Joint Kick-Off 

During National Bargaining Kick-Off, May 6-8, Alliance leaders and Kaiser Permanente management set the tone for what we hope will be a productive, forward-focused process. We reaffirmed the principles of the Labor Management Partnership (LMP) and began critical discussions on key priorities.

Economics

Alliance Lead Negotiator Hal Ruddick, introduced our key economic priorities:

• Historic across-the-board wage increases that address inflation, the labor shortage, and other health care settlements outside KP
• Addressing wage gaps and disparities
• Ensuring that “Kaiser work is Union work,” by including Maui Health System in the LMP and National Agreement, insourcing jobs that KP contracts out, and ensuring all new KP entities, such as Risant Health, are unionized and part of the partnership.
• Raising medical benefits in regions below the national standards
• Improving retiree medical benefits, so they are consistent in all regions, including KP Washington
• Preserving the pension for all Alliance members
• A fair PSP (Performance Sharing Program)

Alliance leaders stressed the need to protect and improve industry-leading educational benefits: additional funding for the Ben Hudnall Memorial Trust, an increase in tuition reimbursement, and student loan repayment assistance.

Staffing and Patient Care

Staffing is a crucial issue for our members. We have great staffing contract language, including improvements we won in 2021. In this subgroup co-led by Joshua Holt (OFNHP Treasurer), the focus will be on: implementing and improving existing language, planning for future employment needs, and developing guidance to jointly create work schedules that meet the needs of patients, KP, and union members.

There’s still a lot of work ahead, and we are committed to fighting for improvements that allow for the full implementation of our agreement.

AI and Technology 

AI and new technology are already changing our work. We need to be at the table to make sure we have a say in what technology gets adopted and how it’s rolled out. Co-led by Dolores Hunsaker (USW Local 7600 Vice President), this subgroup will focus on: current uses and potential impacts of AI and new technologies on patient care and bargaining unit work, training programs for future skills, guidelines for new technologies, and communication strategies to educate and engage employees and managers.

Partnership Effectiveness 

This is our Partnership, and we are working to strengthen it.  This subgroup, co-led by Liz Hawkins (UNAC/UHCP Secretary) and Shamika Romanak (UFCW Local 324 Recording Secretary), will focus on strengthening our Partnership: identifying challenges in the areas of UBTs, LMP training, and just culture, and developing recommendations to address them. The group will also look at setting up a process to evaluate the overall effectiveness of partnership.