Kaiser management met with leaders from most Kaiser unions on Monday, May 7, and two bargaining committee members were there with our elected President Meg Niemi on behalf of SEIU Local 49.
From that meeting, it’s clear Kaiser is walking away from Partnership as we know it. They want more power to automate, relocate and outsource jobs, and roll back their job security commitments to Kaiser employees to maintain jobs.
In addition, Kaiser said they will refuse to negotiate a new National Agreement*, leaving each union to bargain their own local agreement (ours remains in place through June 30, 2019 and protects our wages and benefits). Kaiser’s idea of “Partnership” would strip away our power as workers and union members, which would put our jobs and the quality of our patient care at risk. SEIU and our Coalition allies will not stand for this.
We are so encouraged by the unity and collaboration of the other Coalition members. There’s no doubt in our minds that we are united as 85,000 healthcare workers and will act as one when it comes to Kaiser. And we are confident that we will ultimately win a new contract that we can all be proud of.
Here’s the document Kaiser gave us, which details how they want to re-shape the Partnership in a way that will restrict union power, so that jobs can be put at risk in the name of “efficiency”, “technology” and “change.” If you haven’t already, watch this video of fellow union members from SEIU-UHW speaking up on how outsourcing will affect them. There are 30 SEIU 49 jobs on the line, so this issue will absolutely hurt us if we don’t fight back.
We’re preparing to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Kaiser over this behavior. We must continue to stand united across our worksites and unions.
If you haven’t signed up to join one of our May pickets, sign up below or get in touch with an SEIU 49 leader right away to make sure you can attend the next one. Our ability to protect our jobs and speak up for our patients depends on it.
*Please note: SEIU 49 members have a guaranteed 1% raise coming on September 1, 2018. If Kaiser refuses to renew the National Agreement, then all SEIU 49 members will also get a 2% raise on October 1, 2018—a total of 3% in raises before the end of the year. All economic provisions, including wages, performance opportunities, and benefits of the National Agreement and all provisions of our local contract are fully in effect through June 30, 2019 and cannot be changed without bargaining with us.