Kaiser Nurses Hold 1 Day Strike In Midst Of Contract Talks

Hundreds of Northern California Kaiser Permanente nurses started a one-day strike Monday morning over contract talks and concerns about staffing levels.

More than 600 nurse midwives and nurse anesthetists from 20 hospitals took to the picket lines at Kaiser facilities in Oakland and Roseville at 7 a.m., according to officials with the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals.

The nurses, who are negotiating their first union contract with the health care system, said in a news release that Kaiser has “refused to settle a fair contract that addresses unsafe staffing, burnout, and the risk to patient care.”

“We’ve had operating rooms sit empty because there weren’t enough nurse anesthetists to cover cases,” said Jeff Cathcart, a Kaiser nurse in San Francisco. “That directly impacts patient access to care.”

Joining the nurses Monday in a sympathy strike are physician assistants and acupuncture providers from UNAC/UHCP’s Northern California chapters.

Kaiser officials said together the strikers account for 1,300 health care workers throughout the region.

And while hospitals and medical offices remain open some surgeries and other appointments might have to be rescheduled because of the walkout, Kaiser officials said Monday.

“It is disappointing that leadership of a partner union would ask our dedicated and committed employees to walk away from the patients who need them, and disrupt needed health care for our members, while we are actively working to settle a contract,” Kaiser officials said.

Hospital officials dispute the union’s claim that staffing levels threaten patient care, saying that Kaiser meets and often exceeds state mandates on nurse-to-patient ratios and workforce standards.

Kaiser and the Alliance of Health Care Unions have been in talks since May over a national agreement that expires at the end of September and the two sides will meet multiple times before then in an effort to reach a new agreement.