Some 3,400 nurses and other Kaiser Permanente workers in Oregon and southwest Washington have said they’ll strike beginning Nov. 15.
Members of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals authorized the strike by an enormous margin last month. Nurses and other health care workers must give 10 days’ notice, though, before a walkout. The union said it was giving that notification Thursday.
The Oregon and southwest Washington workers would be joined by 32,000 others in five states.
Staffing shortages have already hit hospitals along with other industries. Health care workers, though, have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic — then a surge in patients seeking care even as the widespread availability of vaccines helped to slow the virus’ spread.
Thousands have left the workforce in recent months. A much smaller number have been placed on leave or terminated in recent weeks because they have not been vaccinated for COVID-19 in compliance with a state mandate, nor received a religious or medical exemption. Kaiser, though, said it doesn’t plan to fire employees for failing to comply with the mandate until December.
Union leaders said last month that Kaiser was offering current employees 1% raises and wants to institute a two-tiered system in which new hires will start at significantly lower compensation than established employees.
“We hoped that simply authorizing the strike, holding rallies and other forms of collective worker and community action would push Kaiser to do the right thing, but they have continued to push proposals that would create dangerous conditions for patients and staff,” Jodi Barschow, the union’s president and a registered nurse at Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center, said in a statement Thursday. “Striking is our last resort, but it is what we must do so that we can protect our patients, our workers, and our entire public healthcare system from the disastrous attack Kaiser leadership is staging.”
Arlene Peasnall, Kaiser senior vice president of human resources, said in a statement that Kaiser this week offered 4% a year in pay increases with no reductions in benefits. She said Kaiser “simply aims to slow the significant over-market growth in compensation.”
It’s been 33 years since Kaiser faced a major strike. Its Oregon and southwest Washington operation runs two hospitals, Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas and the Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro as well as about 50 other clinics and other facilities.
A resolution could be reached ahead of Nov. 15.
If the strike goes forward, Kaiser said previously the company will rely on its physicians, managers and “contingency” employees to operate its 52 facilities in Oregon.
“Kaiser Permanente has a responsibility to be well-prepared for the possibility of a labor disruption,” Peasnall said Thursday. “If a strike occurs, we will keep our hospitals open and continue to care for our members and patients. We will inform our members of any service changes. This could include rescheduling some appointments and surgeries.”
— Elliot Njus
Jeff Manning contributed to this report.