Yesterday was our last day of bargaining before our strike begins next Monday. And despite Kaiser’s public proclamations that the best place to come to an agreement is at the bargaining table, their bargaining team dwindled to just one manager and three from labor relations, they met with us less than an hour, and they still did not want to engage us in any discussion about the pension or workload and staffing issues.
It is clear to us that management is using every tactic it can to divide us and make us feel hopeless and discouraged from striking, including dismissive, condescending, and gaslighting communications from KP executives. (See a rebuttal here, from Dr. Jared Garcia, Care at Home and a member of our bargaining committee).
But Kaiser’s tactics aren’t working and we are more determined than ever to win a fair and equitable contract that addresses our needs and those of our patients. We know if we stick together we can win, just like our NUHW colleagues in Northern California and Hawai’i did by going on open-ended strikes recently.
Below are some of the reasons each of us is striking. Make sure you join us on the picket line to convince Kaiser we are serious and will really do whatever it takes to get a fair and equitable contract. If you will be striking, even if you cannot join a picket line every day, sign up here using your unique ID.
Why we are striking
We are all striking because Kaiser is refusing to restore the pension, is offering us a wage increase that will take us backward instead of forward, and is failing to address staffing and workload issues, including patient management time, in any meaningful way. Here are some additional reasons:
As a medical social worker, I see first hand how delayed and inadequate mental health care can lead to increased emergency room admissions and negative health outcomes for our patients. I am striking for myself and my patients. – Adriana Webb, Medical Social Worker
I am striking for my patients’ well-being, my colleagues’ security and my future, – William Johnson, Psychiatry
I’m striking with colleagues to stop KP from continuing to discriminate against people who have mental health difficulties and discriminating against us as KP mental health professionals advocating for our patients. – Jim Clifford, Psychiatry
I am striking because profits should not prevail over quality patient care. I’m striking because our psychiatric nurses have a voice to be heard and we want equity! I want KP to understand that every mental health clinician MATTERS whether they want to acknowledge it or not. – Gena Porter, Psychiatric RN,
I am striking for equity for my patients and my colleagues. – Jennifer Swinford, Medical Social Worker
I am striking because patients deserve true healing and to be viewed as more than a dollar sign. I’m striking so clinicians can actually do meaningful work in this broken assembly line system of “care” I’m striking because strikes work! – Kassaundra Guttierez-Thompson, Associate Social Worker, ADAPT
I am striking for patient care and realistic working conditions. Not to be treated like a number and a metric. – Mindy Rochlin, Addiction Medicine
I am striking because the assembly line system that Kaiser has created forces me to provide subpar care and makes me rethink my career choices daily. – Jessica Rentz, Psychiatry
I am striking to remind Kaiser the meaning of the word partnership. How they treat their labor force and the patients & families to whom they have promised care. – Lisa Carroll, Medical Social Worker
I am striking for my patients, my families, and my colleagues. Despite Kaiser being well-positioned to provide equitable, inclusive, and life-sustaining care to our communities, they would rather push for mediocre, brief treatments that are not sustainable, leaving our frontline first responder behavioral health providers burnt out and needing to seek their own emotional support. – Michelle Cuevas, Neuro-psychology
Meeting the financial challenges of being on strike
As we prepare for our open-ended strike, we understand the sacrifice that you all are making in doing so, especially in terms of financial challenges. As many of you have seen, we have identified several resources for temporary work to help make up for lost wages. One of these resources, Rula, is offering a $3,000 bonus for Kaiser employees who see their first patient by 11/15. Rula has created a special landing page just for us Kaiser Psych Social members to help streamline the credentialing process and ensure we will not be assigned Kaiser patients. When you speak with someone, you just need to mention that you work for Kaiser,
Along with this exciting opportunity, don’t forget to share the link to our GoFundMe page for the Hardship Fund with your friends, neighbors, families, and any organizations you belong to! While this is intended to be an important resource to ensure everyone has financial support while we are out on strike, it is obsolete if there are not sufficient funds. You can use this social media toolkit to help guide you in asking for donations on social media.
