Kaiser Labor Relations contacted us today to ask if we’d like to resume bargaining. We replied that we are ready — and have been ready — to meet anyplace anytime.
We’re continuing to get strong news coverage of the strike. Capital and Main published a story Thursday about our legislative support and CalMatters published a story today that includes interviews with both striking workers and patients.
On Monday morning, we’ll be hosting a news conference via Zoom that will include three Kaiser patients talking about their experience getting behavioral healthcare from Kaiser both before and during the strike. Several news organizations have already RSVP’d to attend.
Since there is a limit on the number of people allowed in the Zoom room, we won’t be sharing the link widely, but picket line leads will be sharing the link with everyone on the lines Monday.
The news conference will be recorded, and the recording will be available on NUHW’s YouTube channel.
More support from statewide elected leaders
Coming on the heels of support letters from a majority of California legislators, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond wrote to Kaiser CEO Greg Adams urging him to settle on our terms.
Tony Thurmond’s letter warned that Kaiser’s negotiating position would leave patients in Southern California, including school children, with an inferior behavioral healthcare system:
Insisting that mental health professionals in Southern California have less time for critical patient care duties that cannot be done during their appointments than their counterparts in Northern California creates a two-tiered system that results in unequal and inferior care for Kaiser members in Southern California. Again, this is particularly concerning to me as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, because Kaiser Permanente is the largest health care provider in the state for school employees, including thousands of school employees in Southern California who meet the needs of our students daily, and who themselves are in need of timely, quality mental and behavioral health services.
Fiona Ma’s letter raised questions about Kaiser using profits made in California to finance out-of-state expansion efforts:
While I’ve watched these developments with great concern, I’ve also carefully observed your leadership team’s decision to invest billions of dollars in acquiring out-of-state health systems rather than correcting the well- documented and recurring problems affecting Kaiser’s behavioral health services in California. To date, Kaiser has committed to spending more than $9 billion to acquire two health systems in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.5 It appears that most of these funds were generated by California’s consumers and group purchasers—including our local, county, and state governments—who account for the supermajority of Kaiser’s enrollees. In 2025, Kaiser will boost the monthly premiums it charges to CalPERS members by 8.4%.6.
As a Constitutional Officer with the fiduciary responsibility to manage our state’s assets and ensure accountability for the use of our state government’s financial resources, and specifically in my roles as a member of the CalPERS and CalSTRS Boards, we intend to take firm action with staff and Board leaders to ensure that you address the concerns I have outlined above, including by initiating efforts to make whole CalPERS and its Kaiser enrollees for behavioral health services they paid for but did not receive. We ask to meet with you at your earliest opportunity to discuss your plans to address this important matter.
Picket line schedules for Christmas and New Year
There will be no picket lines on the following days during the next two weeks.
- Tuesday, December 24
- Wednesday, December 25
- Tuesday, December 31
- Wednesday, January 1
Picket line notes
If your state legislator signed those letters to Greg Adams calling on Kaiser to settle on our terms, give them a call to say “thank you.” Here are the Senate letter and the Assembly letter with all the signatories.Text
The Orange County Labor Federation and CLUE teamed up for a holiday-themed celebration today at LAMC and will do it again Monday on the Anaheim line.
Hardship funds
Hardship fund applications are due by Friday at 11:59 p.m. for disbursement on the following Friday. You can find the official rules for disbursement here and the application form here.
Be sure to share the donation links with your extended networks to ensure we have adequate funds for disbursement. Currently, weekly disbursements are being capped at $250. Please be patient as the committee works out our workflow and challenges with distributing such large amounts of money.
Picket line photos
See the gallery of photos below, and see more on NUHW’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
