Coalition unions reach tentative deal with Kaiser Permanente

Oakland, CA – The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions have reached a tentative deal with the hospital giant following a three-day strike in which 75,000 workers took to the picket line Oct. 4-6 , the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history to protest the nonprofit hospital giant’s alleged unfair labor practices, bad-faith bargaining, inadequate wages, and chronic staff shortages.

The union coalition represents 40 percent of Kaiser Permanente’s non-physician workforce and includes a wide range of medical workers, including EMTs, X-ray technicians, nursing assistants and respiratory care practitioners. It also represents hospital support staff, including maintenance and janitorial staff as well as food services.

They are represented 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.

Representatives of the union coalition and Kaiser met in person Oct. 12 at a San Francisco Bay-area hotel to hammer out the tentative agreement.

Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su was present, as previously announced, as mediator.

“What they’ve achieved here in Oakland (San Francisco Bay Area) is great news for frontline workers, for Kaiser and the patients in their collective care,” Su said.

“The frontline healthcare workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente,” the union coalition said on X (formerly Twitter). “We are thankful for the instrumental support of Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su.”

The strike lasted three days, the length of time it had been scheduled. But the coalition of unions threatened an eight-day strike next month with even more workers walking out if a new deal was not reached by Oct. 31.

Union members will still need to vote on the tentative agreement. If they vote “no,” another strike could still happen.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but higher pay and increased hiring to address what union officials called crisis-level staffing shortages topped the list of demands. The previous four-year contract expired on Sept. 30.