Kaiser management must finally be feeling some of the heat of nearly 83% of all our members signing onto the open-ended strike authorization, because yesterday in bargaining they showed more movement than ever before. While they still have not adequately addressed our major issues, moving closer on lesser issues is an important first step.
Yesterday we reached tentative agreement on Professional Practice Committees and on adding language to the contract that would enable greater opportunities for flexible and/or hybrid work schedules.
Kaiser also made the following proposals in response to our previous proposals:
- To add a 25-year longevity step with a wage rate 2% higher than the 15-year step, in response to our proposal of 20- and 25-year steps, each 4% above the previous step;
- A $1.00/hour pay for preceptors, compared to our proposal of 10% differential (which we reduced later in the day to 6%);
- Accepted our proposal to improve retiree medical benefits by matching the enhancements they recently provided to other unionized employees, i.e., the premium Senior Advantage plan and increased contributions to a Healthcare Reimbursement Account.
Management also improved their proposal on Patient Management Time, to give full time employees four hours of protected PMT, which is substantially the status quo before they started booking into PMT a few months ago. They will try to sell this proposal as offering 6 hours of PMT, which is what a 40-hour employee, who does nothing but individual or child/family therapy, would have in their schedule – but management could book into two of those hours as they see fit. We reminded them that 4 hours of protected PMT has never been enough. We also chided them for refusing to address workload and staffing issues for Psych RNs or those who work in Addiction Medicine, Social Medicine or Homecare Services.
On our part, we also modified several proposals to try to get closer to a settlement and narrow the issues we will be striking over, if need be:
- Health & Welfare Benefits, we reduced from $100,000 to $60,000 our proposed life insurance benefit;
- Revised our incentive plan metrics, accepting some that management had proposed but with more achievable targets;
- Dropped our request to add Presidents Day as a paid holiday, but insisted Kaiser should recognize Juneteenth and honor its “commitment” to diversity, equity and inclusion;
- Revised our proposal on Status Definitions to put limits, instead of an outright ban, on the employer’s ability to require part-time employees to pick up additional shifts.
- To be clear, despite the progress we made yesterday, a strike still appears to be more likely than not. This is why, before announcing the strike start date, we are taking the steps necessary to ensure our strike will be successful, such as:
- Political and community outreach, to ensure elected officials and community allies understand our issues and support us;
- Patient outreach, including updating our Kaiser Don’t Deny page on our website;
- Media outreach, including expanding our social media presence;
- Lining up member resources, such as job opportunities and activating our hardship fund;
- Working out strike logistics, including picket locations and picket shifts, with signing up for shifts to start later this week or early next;
- Member communication – besides bargaining updates, we will be sending other information to help everyone prepare for the strike, as well as holding a town hall on Sunday, October 13 (details to follow).
Additional Bargaining DatesOur remaining scheduled dates for bargaining are October 4, 7, 8 &10. The first of these is in Glendale and the remaining three are in downtown LA. If you would like to attend one of these in-person bargaining sessions, sign up here.