31,000 Kaiser workers set to strike for five days starting Oct. 14

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUS) -- Tens of thousands of healthcare workers are set to strike against Kaiser Permanente this week after the union representing them delivered a 10-day strike notice.

Starting at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 31,000 United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) members will strike for five days, ending at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19, the union announced.

Kaiser nurses, pharmacists, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, midwives, physician assistants, rehab therapists, speech language pathologists, dietitians and other specialty health care professionals are striking for safe staffing, equitable pay and benefits and a voice for frontline caregivers from Kaiser Permanente, the union said.

This will be the largest strike in UNAC/UHCP’s history, according to the union, which said they are a member union of the Alliance of Health Care Unions, so up to 46,000 Kaiser employees could join strike lines in California, Hawaii and Oregon.

In San Diego County, striking Kaiser employees will be picketing outside the San Marcos Medical Center, the Zion Medical Center and the San Diego Medical Center. The full picket line schedule and locations can be found below, courtesy of the union:

Kaiser Permanente announced it received a strike notice from the Alliance of Health Care Unions for a 5-day strike beginning October 14 across Southern California, and said they have been negotiating since May on a new agreement.

The health care system says their hospitals and medical offices will stay open during the strike and is telling patients to go to their regularly scheduled appointments and that they will be contacted if the office needs to reschedule.

Kaiser did say some non-urgent appointments and elective surgeries might be rescheduled during the strike and some of their pharmacies might close, but that there is delivery service available online at kp.org/pharmacy and some pharmacies are expected to remain open.

Kaiser on Friday responded to the strike notice in a statement, that states in part, "Since May, we’ve been actively working to reach new national and local agreements — achieving 52 tentative agreements, holding more than 900 local bargaining sessions, and closing 17 of 54 local tables. We’ve taken multiple steps to move negotiations forward — enhancing proposals, initiating mediation, and extending national and local bargaining. Even after receiving 10-day strike notices, we continued negotiations this week because we remain committed to reaching a fair agreement if possible..."

"...Beyond wages, our proposal also enhances benefits that are already strong and some of the best provided in the country, and continues investing in your growth, career development, and long-term financial stability."

Read the full statement from Kaiser Permanente below:

Kaiser is one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States.  

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