Kaiser Permanente mental health workers are on strike for the second straight week at facilities across Southern California after recent negotiations failed to reach an agreement on wages and benefits.
Once again, the San Diego Medical Center on Claremont Mesa Boulevard is the main picket location, with the first demonstration taking place Monday, and additional labor actions scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The National Union of Health Workers billed it as an “open-ended” strike over a wide range of issues, from pensions to time given to workers to perform preparation and administrative tasks outside of direct patient care.
There were hopes last week that a new round of negotiations on Friday would see workers and employees announce a new four-year contract starting this week, but on Monday the union issued a new statement saying: The announcement of the latest proposal has dashed those hopes. This includes “virtually nothing new” other than “an additional 25 cents an hour for bilingual workers.”
Meanwhile, Kaiser continues to insist that it has been able to continue meeting the mental health needs of its members despite so many workers holding placards on picket lines.
“We reached out to all patients who had scheduled appointments this week, reached all but 3% who did not return our calls or texts, and offered appointments to everyone who requested them,” Kaiser said Friday. He also praised the “hundreds of mental health professionals” who are choosing not to leave their patients during this strike. ”
According to Kaiser, therapists in Southern California earn “on average 18 percent more than their colleagues at other organizations,” and the current offer “will increase therapist salaries by an additional 18 percent over the next four years.” Kaiser added that the union is “demanding a 30% pay increase over three years, bringing therapist salaries to nearly 40% of market.”
However, in a ‘fact sheet’ detailing its bargaining position, the union takes the opposite view on pay, stating that mental health therapists represented by the union do not require ‘less education or They earn up to 40% less than employed non-mental health therapists.” License requirements. ”
The union also continues to demand that Kaiser “restore pension benefits to virtually all of California’s 180,000 members, excluding mental health workers in Southern California.”
The union represents approximately 1,570 psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, addiction treatment specialists, and case managers throughout Southern California. Additionally, approximately 830 licensed psychiatric nurses and medical social workers working in home health care, palliative care, and social care settings are also participating in the strike.
