80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers on strike across the country in October

About 80,000 Kaiser Permanente employees will be on strike for a week starting October 14. They accused their employer of enriching senior executives, raising patient retention rates and outsourcing jobs, the Kaiser Permanente Trade Union Coalition said on Monday.

Kaiser Permanente and her employees have been commuting for more than a year as a result of complaints. Workers will strike pickets at Kaiser Permanente locations such as hospitals and medical offices in California, Colorado, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.

"We believe that the only way to ensure our patients the best health care is to take this step," said Eric Jines, a radiology technologist at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, in a statement from the coalition. "Our goal is to get Kaiser to stop engaging in unfair labor practices and get back on track as a better place to work and care." Kaiser has no reason to leave a strike will be triggered when it has the resources to invest in patients and communities and workers. "

The health and safety of Kaiser Permanente members and patients is a top priority and the organization has put in place emergency plans to "minimize disruptions in care," FOX Business said Thursday. a spokesman for Kaiser Permanente.

The company stated that the last contract offered to union representatives was preferable to a separate contract for workers of Dignity Health, a health care provider, presented by the International Service Employees Union (International Union of Service Employees) and one of them. of the largest labor groups of the Kaiser union coalition. Kaiser's proposal would guarantee wage increases of 3% each year until 2022 for workers in northern and southern California, preserve an existing pension plan and create a labor force development fund. $ 40 million work.

A patient receives a vaccine in the upper arm.

"To be clear, Kaiser Permanente has submitted a contract proposal providing for annual salary increases that would allow our employees to be paid at a rate above the market average while maintaining excellent benefits. to the union's claim, there is no salary reduction or change to our defined employee retirement benefits as part of our proposal, "Kaiser Permanente said in a statement in early August.

The union coalition says it wants a new national deal that would protect middle-class jobs, re-establish a genuine partnership between workers and management, guarantee a secure workforce and compassionate use of technology, strengthen the workforce, and strengthen the workforce. tomorrow to address serious licensing shortages. and accredited staff in the coming years.

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"They have the resources," SEEU-UHW spokesperson Sean Wherley told FOX Business Thursday. "They could solve this problem today." Instead, they went from a non-profit community organization to an organization focused on building huge profits and enriching senior executives At the same time, they are increasing rates on patients, they are under-servicing Medicaid, and they are attacking the same workers who have made the company so successful. "

The announcement of the strike by the coalition comes as nearly 49,000 General Motors auto workers are on strike in several states.