Why are Kaiser Permanente workers preparing for a massive walkout? Details explored as U.S. likely to witness its largest healthcare strike

Workers of one of America's leading healthcare providers, Kaiser Permanente recently launched a strike. On October 4, Wednesday morning, employees of the company began a three-day strike. Thousands of employees are expected in picket lines in facilities across the United States.

The strike was launched by a coalition of Kaiser Permanente healthcare worker unions as a response to bad-faith bargaining by the company after the expiration of their current contract with the healthcare provider. The strike hopes to address a short-staffing crisis in healthcare centers and better wages for workers.

It is important to note that hospitals will remain open as doctors and nurses are not part of the strike.

Union leaders have claimed that this healthcare worker strike could potentially be the largest ever in the recent history of the United States. Kaiser Permanente's workforce makes up 40% of the total number of workers going on strike.

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Kaiser Permanente employees demand pay raise and fix for staffing shortages

The Kaiser Permanente workers strike is set to continue for three days, from October 4 to October 7. The strike is conducted by members of a coalition of unions representing around 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers including sanitation and pharmacy workers, X-ray and lab technicians, ultrasound sonographers, licensed vocational nurses, customer service workers, and many others.

The primary demands of the coalition of worker unions on strike include a solution to the staffing crisis and better wages. According to workers, the former causes dangers to workers as well as patients. Employees also claimed that they were providing care to an overwhelmingly large number of patients for an inadequate level of pay.

The crippling economic inflation and the rise in the cost of living have also led multiple unions to demand better pay. The overwhelming volume of individuals being cared for by a single healthcare employee also causes workers to experience burnout.

The coalition of unions raised the demand for an across-the-board 6.5% increase during the first two years of the employees' contract and a 5.75% increase in the next two. Kaiser's initial offer of a 4% per year increase in Northern California and a 3.5% increase in the first year, followed by a 3% increase each year in Southern California was rejected by the coalition.

The coalition is demanding the prevention of skyrocketing sonographer injuries due to understaffing and back-to-back appointments, improvements to the 2028 premium subsidy/HRA retiree medical plan, and an increase in PSP bonus. As per the coalition's website, it also demands protection against subcontracting and outsourcing and the right to "organize a union to any system they acquire."

"Kaiser continues to bargain in bad faith over these issues and, so far, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. While the negotiating team continues to work on negotiations, hundreds of leaders nationwide came together to get trained on how to run amazing picket lines at our unfair labor practices strike that begins at 6 am on Wednesday, Oct. 4," the website states.

The strike will affect hundreds of Kaiser facilities in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington D.C. Doctors, most nurses, and health workers who are not part of this coalition of unions are not involved in the strike. Therefore, Kaiser Permanente confirmed that hospitals and Emergency departments will remain open

The healthcare giant has stated that it has made contingency plans to deal with the strike and may even bring in contingent workers. Kaiser shared a press release over the weekend and stated that "non-urgent appointments and procedures" could be rescheduled due to the strike.