A Kaiser strike by psychological well being staff drags on — setting a US document — as talks resume

By Joe GarciaCalMatters

This story was initially revealed by CalMatters. Join for his or her newsletters.

Almost six months into their labor union dispute in opposition to Southern California Kaiser Permanente, eight psychological well being care staff banded collectively final week in an organized five-day starvation strike to spotlight their trigger.

“Kaiser’s trying to starve us out, that’s clear — so, give them what they want,” mentioned Adriana Webb, a member of the Nationwide Union of Healthcare Staff who selected to subsist solely on water and electrolytes from Monday morning by way of Friday night. “I feel hungry for equity. I feel hungry for change. How is this any different?”

Now engaged within the longest psychological well being strike in U.S. historical past, the Southern California staff have been searching for a brand new union contract that would come with:

• extra mandated time between remedy periods for affected person comply with up
• restoration of pension advantages that have been faraway from new worker contracts in 2015
• cost-of-living wage changes

After a protracted record of Democratic members of the state Meeting and Senate wrote Kaiser in December urging it to just accept the union’s “reasonable contract proposals” — and after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Feb. 6 written request for each side “to prioritize the common good that have allowed Californians to rise above our difficulties and resolve our differences” — state Well being and Human Providers Secretary Mark Ghaly and former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg have agreed to mediate.

Kaiser executives threw their palms up and walked out of mediation talks on March 11 when the union continued urgent  its three main contract points. At the moment bargaining talks are scheduled to renew.

Steinberg mediated the same open-ended strike for Northern California Kaiser psychological well being care staff in 2022, which lasted 10 weeks and resulted in Kaiser assembly a lot of the union’s calls for.

“We know Kaiser can provide all these things if they wanted to,” mentioned Webb, a medical social employee within the infectious illness unit who stood on the picket line in entrance of Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Middle on Sundown Boulevard. “They already provide it to our Northern California counterparts, and all we’re asking for is the same thing. Kaiser still can’t explain why we deserve less or our patients deserve less.”

In a written response to CalMatters questions, Kaiser Permanente spokesperson Terry Kanakri mentioned Kaiser’s total dedication to work with greater than 40 unions that characterize 80% of its workers.

“Every one of the 80 contracts is different, and each reflects the differences in operational needs, local market economics and wages, professional classifications of the employees in each local, and a host of other factors,” mentioned Kanakri.

“Our goal is and has always been to reach an agreement that makes Kaiser Permanente the best place to give and receive care. We have made — and repeatedly improved — our proposals during bargaining in an effort to reach an agreement. However, in nearly nine months of bargaining, NUHW has made very little movement on the key bargaining issues.”

Though not conscious of any particular particulars of the 2022 NorCal strike or the present SoCal strikes, College of Southern California professor of healthcare funds and economics Glenn Melnick gave his overview on as we speak’s well being care labor local weather.

“Northern California has the highest wage index in the country,” he mentioned. “I feel it’s 20 factors larger than L.A. — possibly 25%. So there’s financial the reason why there’s variations. An economist would say, ‘Mental health care worker, you want these benefits? Move to San Francisco.’

“And many employers are cutting back pension benefits these days. Ten or 15 years ago, pension benefits were much more generous across the board. Kaiser could easily afford to give them these benefits and not think twice, but it’s bigger than just these workers. It’s the ripple effect, right?”

Melnick additionally speculated that well being care staff’ negotiating energy has waned because the COVID pandemic, which drove demand for his or her providers, has considerably subsided.

Kaiser may simply afford to present them these advantages and never suppose twice, nevertheless it’s greater than simply these staff. It’s the ripple impact, proper?

USC professor of healthcare funds and economics Glenn Melnick

From April 8 by way of 12, the starvation strikers spent eight-hour days alongside their picketing fellow union members and every evening collectively fasting at a West Hollywood church. Sleeping in a group area barely sufficiently big for eight air mattresses huddled beside the piano in opposition to a again wall, they shared a rest room and took turns showering in a motel room subsequent door.

Medically cleared beforehand, they acquired day by day wellness checks from volunteer union nurses.

“Right now, I feel like I could go another month,” mentioned Zhane Sandoval, propped up on an elbow from their mattress on the morning of April 11, day 4 of the starvation strike. “So take a look at me, Kaiser!

“Kaiser says that it’s a union employer, but all we’re seeing is union busting. All we’re seeing is separation, trying to divide. But their efforts just lead us to unite.”

Union organizer Rachel Forgash, who stayed in a single day with the starvation strikers on the church, expressed frustration over the protracted standoff.

“Kaiser has exceeded all of our expectations in their unwillingness to bargain in good faith and drag this out as long as possible,” she mentioned. “In Southern California, they’re about to start bargaining with the Alliance, which is a huge group of unions at Kaiser, and I think they’re afraid that — when we win — it’s going to set a precedent for other unions to fight just as hard.”

Aida Valvidia, a psychiatric social employee at Kaiser’s Sylmar facility, and Melissa Chavez, a medical social employee at Riverside, each began working for Kaiser earlier than the 2015 contract negotiations reached a settlement, so that they every have pension advantages that 70% of their fellow psychological well being care union members don’t. But each selected to take part within the starvation strike.

“For the people who don’t have pensions, I think it’s unfair,” mentioned Valvidia. “Why do I have a pension and you don’t? Because you started later? That makes no sense to me. We’re equals.”

Chavez and her husband have been on strike collectively since Oct. 21. “Kaiser members deserve equity and access to timely quality care,” she mentioned. “Workers are experiencing high caseloads, inadequate and unsafe staffing, lack of time, lack of tools.”

The starvation strike week began with iconic labor chief and activist Dolores Huerta visiting the picketers on April 8, two days earlier than her ninety fifth birthday. “I know that you’re not just doing this on your own behalf,” mentioned Huerta, surrounded by cheering union members of their crimson union T-shirts. “You’re actually doing this on behalf of all the patients at Kaiser that are not getting the mental health services that they deserve.”

The union cites a current 88-page report from the state Division of Managed Well being Care, which notes that Kaiser’s failures to treatment 19 of the 20 violations in 2022 led to $200 million in state fines. The union has additionally filed its personal complaints alleging Kaiser mismanages affected person triage and appointment scheduling, by hiring unlicensed clerical workers and utilizing algorithmic programming.

They take out adverts within the paper saying every little thing’s positive — that they’re offering satisfactory care to their sufferers and every little thing is top-notch. It’s so weird and unbelievable.

starvation striker Nick Nunez, a therapist in Kaiser’s Digital Medical Middle

“Despite the persistent efforts of NUHW to mislead the public, the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) has not identified new deficiencies in our mental health care,” mentioned Kanakri’s assertion. It went on to say that Kaiser met with the state division “last week in our first quarterly review and demonstrated the extraordinary progress we have made on all the deficiencies outlined in the Corrective Action Work Plan.”

“We’re in disbelief,” mentioned starvation striker Nick Nunez, a therapist in Kaiser’s Digital Medical Middle, which lends assist to any sufferers in want throughout Southern California. “They take out ads in the paper saying everything’s fine — that they’re providing adequate care to their patients and everything is top-notch. It’s so bizarre and unbelievable.”

Andrew Kane labored as an affiliate scientific social employee on the Los Angeles Medical Middle he now pickets and fasted at. “It’s a little odd, a little surreal,” he mentioned, noting that he occurred to see a affected person on the earth outdoors of Kaiser. “Fortunately — or unfortunately — he didn’t notice me, so we didn’t have to have that interaction.”

Kane began in June 2024, so he’s been on strike longer than he’s acquired a Kaiser wage.

Because the strike continued with out finish in sight since October, many staff have returned to Kaiser attributable to monetary considerations. However some talk the issues they see internally whereas again at work.

“They’re actually the ones documenting all the things going wrong,” mentioned starvation striker Kassaundra Gutierrez-Thompson, a psychiatric social employee in Kaiser’s ADAPT digital on-line remedy program. “We now have DMHC investigators speaking to loads of our returned again workers. Sadly, loads of our managers are combatting them.

“And so, a lot of our members are kind of scared, having to advocate for our patients.They’re fighting a different kind of battle inside.”

Rage In opposition to the Machine guitarist and political labor activist Tom Morello joined the Kaiser picketers on April 9 to carry out a brief acoustic set, and U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove and state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo visited the strikers April 11.

Hours later, they broke their quick with non secular leaders passing round a ceremonial bread loaf.
“We can’t just be treated like numbers,” mentioned starvation striker Ana Vargas Garcia, who additionally noticed members remotely by way of the ADAPT program. “Patients can’t be treated like numbers. There’s real lives behind everyone that we see, behind every worker at Kaiser. That’s a big part of why we’re doing this.”

This text was initially revealed on CalMatters and was republished underneath the Inventive Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.