Kaiser leadership is digging in its heels on a plan to cut wages and benefits in an effort to deeply divide the workforce and our union—and we cannot let that happen. We know that Kaiser has been making record profits—and even just announced plans to spend $900 MILLION on a brand-new headquarters building in California!

We also know that our work is the key to Kaiser’s extraordinary financial success. Despite this, management believes that we, the Kaiser healthcare workers in the Northwest, are overpaid! During bargaining, they claimed we are paid 26% above market-rate for healthcare workers in our region.

Kaiser has great benefits for employees, but none of us would consider ourselves “overpaid.” The reason we’ve had good benefits is because SEIU members fought so hard 20 years ago to make Kaiser jobs good jobs for generations to come.

I find it offensive that Kaiser is claiming we are overpaid. We work hard to take care of our patients, and we are the people who have made Kaiser successful. We are already having a hard time hiring qualified staff because our wages are not high enough.” – Teresa Harris, a Dental Assistant, Grand Dental

National Bargaining Update

Kaiser management wants to cut benefits and wages for new hires. They hope if we fall for a two-tier set of benefits, in a few years those new hires won’t be there to stand with us to protect our benefits. That would greatly diminish the value of working at Kaiser and leave future generations of Kaiser healthcare workers behind. Kaiser’s unacceptable proposal demands big cuts from us, including:

Increased copays to $20 for everyone
Lower pay scales for new hires
Elimination of the pension & the retiree medical plan for new hires
Less paid time off for new hires
More outsourcing and automation of our jobs
They say they would give current employees a “raise” but when asked, they won’t even say how much.

Local Bargaining Update

We also have a team hard at work bargaining our local contract, which we have agreed to extend to July 31, 2019. Here are our interests for our local contract:

Economic

Recruit, retain and reward the best quality staff:

Address below market differentials to incentivize staffing critical shifts
Improve access to education, training & professional development
Recognize and reward longevity and the value of experienced employees

Non- Economic

Integrate LOUs with current relevance and practice into the CBA (or extend)
Modernize language around new union member on-boarding, union membership and union rights and responsibilities
Language & formatting clean up: by agreement

Healthcare runs in my family. My daughters are the third generation to work at Kaiser, after me and their grandmother. I can’t imagine working alongside new cohort of healthcare workers, knowing that they didn’t have the same wages and benefits that I have. This fight isn’t just about us; winning a strong contract will protect the future of Kaiser employees and their families.” -Paula McGuffey, Unit Specialist, Sunnyside Medical Center

Upcoming Actions

It’s our turn to take the torch and continue that fight for our children, our communities, and the next generation of healthcare workers.

Sign the Strike Pledge
Join the picket at Interstate, July 10 at 11am
Download and print the short staffing form. Submit to your Chief Steward when you experience staffing issues on your unit.