Today, we kicked off bargaining with a strong message to Kaiser:
We began the day by sharing with Kaiser our priorities for bargaining as determined first by 87% participation in our bargaining survey, followed by 84% of members signing on to our bargaining platform, committing to do whatever it takes to win a fair and equitable contract.
Several of us spoke about our four top priorities:
- Fair and equitable wage increase
- Restoring the pension for all
- More administrative and patient management time
- Better staffing and stronger workload protections
We gave specific examples of how our bargaining unit has been treated disparately compared to other Kaiser workers, even to our IBHS colleagues in Northern California. We also explained the importance of addressing all of these issues in order to effectively recruit and retain skilled clinicians and provide the quality care our patients deserve.
After a brief discussion of ground rules for bargaining, we gave Kaiser 23 proposals on non-economic provisions of the contract, including:
- Making all contract language gender expansive
- Ensuring disabled and chronically ill employees are offered reasonable accommodations
- Reducing subcontracting to improve both quality and continuity of care
- Clarifying language on professional time
- Establishing a committee dedicated to addressing staffing concerns
- Expanding alternative schedules like 4/10s to all full-time employees.
Most substantially, we proposed language to ensure stronger and more enforceable workload protections and introduced a whole new section to protect and expand patient management time.
While we didn’t walk away with any signed agreements, we sent a clear message to Kaiser that we are united and ready to do what it takes to win a fair contract across Southern California. Kaiser responded by signaling that they are committed to working with us collaboratively to reach an equitable contract. The parties agreed that neither wants to drag out negotiations and Kaiser has agreed to provide more dates to bargain in September, before the contract expires.
What we saw today was that we are in a strong position and KP is taking us seriously. Tomorrow we return to the bargaining table and look forward to Kaiser’s response to our initial proposals.
When we fight, we win.
