Yesterday, during our third day of bargaining, we reached a Tentative Agreement on Bereavement Leave that provides 5 days of leave upon the death of an eligible employee’s immediate family member. All 5 days are paid if the funeral or memorial service is more than 300 miles away; 3 days are paid and 2 days unpaid (or PTO) if the funeral or memorial is less than 300 miles away. Non-benefited employees are eligible for 5 days of unpaid leave and can choose to use CA Paid Sick Leave hours.
The employer also presented counter proposals on the following Articles:
- Non Discrimination – the employer’s counter proposal was to reject our proposal and maintain current contract language.They refuse to include immigration status in the list of protected classes. And they do not want to add language that spells out the legal rights of employees suffering from a disability, especially the right to have reasonable accommodations for known physical or mental limitations.
- Safety – we had proposed language to address worksite security concerns that would require the employer to provide security at all times including a security escort to the parking area upon request. The employer’s counter proposal is to state a “commitment” to providing a safe environment, and to provide security contact information as part of the onboarding process for new or transferring employees.
The employer also made a proposal to take away our ability to sympathy strike in support of other unions, like the Engineers, who sympathy struck for us three years ago.
Gender-affirming care changes
We took the opportunity to express our serious concerns related to patient care brought about by Kaiser executives’ July 23rd communication announcing a “pause” in gender-affirming surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19. The management team was prepared for the discussion, listened to our concerns and was pleased when we stated our desire as a union to assist Kaiser Permanente in some way to help to restore full gender-affirming care services for all ages, sooner than later.
