Thousands of Kaiser Permanente mental health workers In Southern California, a strike broke out this Monday over their demands for contractual improvements.
Around 2,400 workers began a work stoppage with large protests planned outside Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Los Angeles and San Diego.
“There will also be demonstrations this Monday in Fontana and Anaheim. However, many workers at those sites will take buses to join their colleagues at Kaiser Medical Center in Los Angeles to begin the strike,” said a spokesperson for the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).
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They call off a strike until an agreement is reached
The union said the work stoppage It will not end until an agreement is reached on a fair wage for workersa restoration of pensions and allowances to spend more time with patients.
“We don’t do it just for ourselves. We do it for patients and for the professionbecause the way Kaiser handles mental health is not what it should be. Therefore, we do it for the future of mental health as a whole,” stated psychiatric counselor Natalie Espinoza.
According to the union, workers include psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nursesaddiction medicine counselors, licensed clinical counselors, and marriage and family therapists.
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Workers provide care behavioral health to Kaiser Permanente’s 4.8 million members in hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices, as well as in home care from San Diego to Bakersfield.
The union’s labor contract with Kaiser Permanente ended September 30, 2024.
An unnecessary strike: Kaiser Permanente
In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said the strike was unnecessary and denied that mental health workers want to spend more time with patients.
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“Today’s strike is completely unnecessary and, unfortunately, not surprising. NUHW leaders They have been threatening to strike since before we started negotiating in July“Kaiser Permanente stated.
“The union has been making slow progress in negotiations, despite the strong proposals Kaiser Permanente has put on the table. The union’s proposals at the table have been exaggerated and unreasonable“he added.
Kaiser Permanente said the union was not asking for more time to care for patients, but rather demanding more money. so that therapists spend less time seeing their patients.
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The labor dispute comes a year after Kaiser Permanente reached a $50 million settlement with state regulators that They said the mental health care system was understaffed.
Kaiser officials said that More than $1 billion has been invested since 2020 to expand mental health capabilities in Californiaincluding hiring more therapists, adding resources, and reducing patient wait times.
The union assured that the shortage is still persistent in Southern California, saying that there is approximately one therapist for every 3,000 Kaiser patientscompared to 1 in 2,000 in Northern California.
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