In summary
The strike is the second in just over two years by mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente in California. The last one lasted 10 weeks.
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More than 2,400 Kaiser Permanente mental health workers in Southern California went on strike this morning, setting up picket lines in locations from Los Angeles to San Diego, the second strike among Kaiser therapists in more than two years. .
Mental health workers represented by the National Union of Health Care Workers prepared for a weekend strike after rejecting Kaiser’s terms on Friday.
Kaiser said in a written statement that it is notifying patients whose appointments may be affected by the strike. “Patients will have the opportunity to see another specialist within our extensive network of highly qualified and licensed therapists if their usual healthcare provider is on strike,” the statement reads. It is written.
The previous strike among mental health clinicians in Northern California in 2022 lasted 10 weeks and prompted Kaiser to hire more therapists and give employees certain hours away from in-person patient care. It led to a promise.
Kaiser officials in Southern California are now asking for more time between appointments to prepare for patients. They also want higher wages and pension benefits the company provides to Northern California clinicians.
“It’s very simple,” said William Johnson, a union steward and psychosocial worker who serves on the bargaining committee. “We are looking for the same three top priorities to which Kaiser has already said yes for mental health workers in Northern California.”
Johnson said his current workload includes seeing 32 to 35 patients a week in one-hour sessions.
Kaiser issued a statement responding to the union’s strike plan, saying, “Unfortunately, this appears to have been their intention all along, so this is not surprising.”
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The company offered an 18% pay increase over four years and a number of other benefits, the statement said. Kaiser representatives said they have invested more than $1 billion to expand California’s mental health capacity and have increased the number of licensed mental health clinicians in Southern California by 30% over the past four years. Ta.
But union members say turnover is an issue, with a quarter of therapists hired between January 2021 and August 2024 leaving their jobs.
“Kaiser leadership has been consistently dismissive every time we have expressed our concerns or experiences,” Johnson said. “They like to tell us things like, ‘I know it’s not ideal,’ but then add, ‘But it works for us.'”
Jared Garcia, another union steward on the bargaining committee, said he hopes the strike will end within a month, but is prepared to last as long as it takes.
“Scabs don’t work,” Garcia said. “Kaiser knows the limitations of finding mental health professionals, much less filling our current union membership of 2,400.”
A year ago, Kaiser entered into a $200 million settlement agreement with the state of California, paying a $50 million fine and paying an additional $150 million over five years to address delays in behavioral health screening appointments. agreed to invest.
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