Kaiser Nurses Strike Across California
More than 1,000 protesters-- including nurses, therapists, social workers and other members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers-- picketed the Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center early this morning to protest against the reduction of health care coverage and retirement benefits.
The union contends that Kaiser, a non-profit entity, has taken in billions of dollars in revenue over the last two years, but has continued to undermine benefits for health care workers.
"There's more than adequate money for them to function at better staffing levels than any other organization because they are doing so well," said social worker John Faas.
This is the third time Kaiser nurses have gone on strike since February of this year. This week's protest is likely to be the largest in company history. More than 20,000 unionized health care workers are set to strike at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente facilities across the state.
"We've been fighting for a long time," said nurse Reinhard Garcias.
"Kaiser was founded to provide heathcare for Kaiser employees, so it's pretty outrageous that they would try to mess with our healthcare," said therapist Mary Donovan.
Kaiser sent an e-mail to its 6.5 million members last night saying all Kaiser hospitals and centers will remain open during the strike. However, some appointments and elective procedures involving therapists, dietitions and others on strike are rescheduled.
Kaiser also released a statement today saying the union's decision to strike is "very disappointing" and "counterproductive. The statement goes on to say: "Regardless of any strike activity, we will continue to negotiate in good faith at the bargaining table and we hope to reach an agreement soon.
"We want good staffing levels. We want good patient care," said Donovan said.
The strikes are expected to last one to three days, depending on the location. The strike in Los Angeles ran from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and is scheduled to last until Friday.
