Kaiser Permanente officials will meet with Kaiser mental health workers next month to continue contract negotiations amid an ongoing strike.
Representatives for the Oakland, California-based integrated health system on Jan. 9 will meet with the 2,400 Kaiser therapists, clinicians and other Southern California members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers who have been on strike since Oct. 21, according to a news release issued Monday by the union.
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Bargaining talks, which have been at a standstill since late October, include requests from the union to improve benefits, boost pay and dedicate additional resources to critical care patients.
“It’s deeply troubling that Kaiser still seems intent on slow-walking negotiations when it has never been clearer that patients are suffering from Kaiser’s refusal to bargain in good faith,” NUHW President Emeritus Sal Rosselli said in the release.
A Kaiser spokesperson said in a statement the contract demands are illogical and that therapists are already paid 18% above market rate.
“NUHW continues to demand that we settle a contract agreement so therapists would spend almost 50% of their time in non-patient care. This is not logical and would result in 15,000 clinical appointments per month not being staffed. At the same time, NUHW is demanding a salary increase that would place the pay of Kaiser Permanente therapists more than 40% above their peers in the market,” the spokesperson said.
More than 2,000 Northern California Kaiser mental health workers went on strike in 2022 over similar contract disputes. The 10-week strike that ended in the fall of that year resulted in commitments from Kaiser to increase staffing and pay.
