Striking Kaiser Permanente workers hold signs as they march in front of the Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center on October 06, 2023 in Vallejo, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Kaiser Permanente workers on Friday threatened further strikes if executives don’t meet their demands over health-care staffing and job outsourcing.
Greater than 75,000 Kaiser workers are scheduled to finish a three-day work stoppage in California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon at 6 a.m. Saturday local time. The present strike, which began Wednesday, is claimed to be the biggest walkout by health-care workers in U.S. history.
Nearly 60,000 of the workers currently on strike are in California where Kaiser is headquartered.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said workers will provide 10 days notice before walking out again.
Bargaining sessions between workers and Kaiser executives are scheduled for next Thursday and Friday.
Disagreements over job outsourcing have grow to be a serious sticking point in recent negotiations, in keeping with the coalition. It accuses Kaiser of refusing to limit outsourcing and subcontracting jobs.
Kaiser, the biggest health-care nonprofit within the U.S., said Thursday that tentative agreements have been reached in several areas and that the corporate is committed to negotiating a latest contract.
Workers are also demanding long-term investments to extend staffing amid a workforce shortage. The coalition of unions has said the short-staffing crisis has led to unsafe working conditions which are affecting the standard of care patients receive.