Oakland, CA (PAI) — Some 85,000 members of a 12-union-local coalition who staged a three-day strike in early October over Kaiser management’s refusal to budge in bargaining, began voting on Oct. 18 on what negotiators called a “landmark” contract.
21 PERCENT RAISE
The contract, helped with mediation from Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su, calls for a 21 percent raise over the four years of the contract – needed because Kaiser’s clinics and workers are in high-cost areas such as the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston, metropolitan Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and Honolulu.
To help with those costs, the new pact also establishes a new health care worker hourly minimum wage of $25 in California and $23 elsewhere. It also contains “protective terms around subcontracting and outsourcing, which will keep experienced health care workers in jobs and provide strong continuity of care for patients,” said one of the coalition unions, the Office and Professional Employees.
$1,500 SIGNING BONUS
The contract also includes a $1,500-per-worker signing bonus and further bonuses keyed to Kaiser’s financial performance over the next four years. There were also health care improvements, said the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (CKPU).
The proposed contract also includes “a wide variety of initiatives to invest in the workforce and address the staffing crisis, including streamlining hiring practices, increased training and education funding, mass hiring events, and a commitment to upskill existing workers and invest in the training of future health care workers,” OPEIU’s statement of the settlement said.
The CKPU locals include Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 29, OPEIU Local 30, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 20, SEIU-UHW, and SEIU Local 121RN.
‘LIFE CHANGING’
“This deal is life-changing for frontline healthcare workers like me, and life-saving for our patients,” Yvonne Esquivel, a pediatric medical assistant in Gilroy, Calif., told OPEIU. “Thousands of Kaiser healthcare workers fought hard for this new agreement, and now we will finally have the resources we need to do the job we love and keep our patients safe.”
HIGHER STANDARD FOR HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
“Contracts like these not only ensure health care workers are well supported but also help maintain the quality of care for patients. Enhanced benefits will attract new workers, and create a more stable and attractive environment for those considering a career in health care. It’s truly a win-win situation,” said Tamara Rubyn, president/business manager of OPEIU Local 29.
“Millions of Americans are safer today because tens of thousands of dedicated healthcare workers fought for and won the critical resources they need and that patients need,” said the union coalition’s executive director, Caroline Lucas. “This historic agreement will set a higher standard for the healthcare industry nationwide.”
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