NOVEMBER 19, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7
Kaiser Permanente avoids strike
Unions, a coalition of labor unions rep-
resenting 52,000 Kaiser workers.
"This agreement will mean patients
will continue to receive the best care,
and Alliance members will have the
best jobs,” said Hal Ruddick, Executive
Director, Alliance of Health Care
Unions. “This contract protects our
patients, provides safe staffi ng, and
guarantees fair wages and benefi ts for
every Alliance member.”
Both local and national union work-
ers will still need to vote on the contract
before it is fi nalized. That vote, accord-
ing to OFNHP’s statement, will begin
after information sessions are held to
allow every member to know what is in
the new agreement.
NEWS
TIPS?
FILE PHOTO, Keizertimes
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Less than 48 hours before 35,000
Kaiser Permanente workers were set to
strike, union leaders and Kaiser were
able to reach a tentative agreement
Saturday morning, Nov. 13.
The strike, which was set to begin
at 6 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 15, would
have included 3,400 Kaiser employees
in Oregon and southwest Washington.
The four Kaiser facilities in the Salem
and Keizer area would have most likely
been impacted, with possible impacts
to the Kaiser-affi liated Salem Hospital
as well.
“The pressure our members, includ-
ing leaders and community, put on
Kaiser and the threat of a strike worked
and moved Kaiser leadership to do the
right thing and settle a proposal that
will improve care for the entire commu-
nity,” said Jodi Barschow, president of
the Oregon Federation of Nurses and
Health Professionals (OFNHP), the
union that represents the 3,400 workers.
Last month, 96% of nearly 3,400
Kaiser workers in Oregon and south-
west Washington voted to approve the
strike. On Nov. 4, labor unions gave
Kaiser Permanente the required 10-day
notice that they planned on striking on
Nov. 15.
For months, union workers have
pushed back against a “two-tier” wage
system proposed by Kaiser execu-
tives that would have paid future hires
between 25 and 40 percent less than cur-
rent employees. With new hires being
paid substantially less, union leaders
said the two-tier wage proposal would
have only worsened the staffi ng crisis.
According to a statement from
OFNHP on Saturday, the four-year
contract eliminates the “two-tier” wage
proposal and includes wage increases,
racial justice improvements and a staff -
ing committee that will begin to tackle
the staffi ng crisis at Kaiser. The deal was
negotiated by the Alliance of Healthcare
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