SAN DIEGO – More than 4,200 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego will be joining a nationwide strike beginning Oct. 14, after recently voting to authorize a strike against the healthcare giant. It would be the nation’s largest strike in more than two decades – affecting more than 80,000 workers in six states and the District of Columbia.

“We believe the only way to ensure our patients get the best care is to take this step,” said Robert Sparrow, an x-ray technician at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. “Our goal is to get Kaiser to stop committing unfair labor practices and get back on track as the best place to work and get care. There is no reason for Kaiser to let a strike happen when it has the resources to invest in patients, communities and workers.”

For the first time in the history of our Labor Management Partnership, we are headed for a strike at Kaiser Permanente.

Corporate healthcare is failing patients and workers — and Kaiser showed why they’re the prime example of this failure in our September 16 bargaining session, which ended without an agreement. Fourteen days before the expiration of our contract, Kaiser demonstrated it is not serious about avoiding an unfair labor practices strike. Kaiser continued to demean and disrespect us, our patients, and our families by demanding massive cuts to our jobs, raises, and benefits.

OAKLAND, Calif. – More than 80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in six states and the District of Columbia will begin a nationwide, seven-day unfair labor practices strike Oct. 14. The strike will be the largest since the Teamsters strike against United Parcel Service more than two decades ago.

“We believe the only way to ensure our patients get the best care is to take this step,” said Eric Jines, a radiologic technologist at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles. “Our goal is to get Kaiser to stop committing unfair labor practices and get back on track as the best place to work and get care. There is no reason for Kaiser to let a strike happen when it has the resources to invest in patients, communities and workers.”

OPEIU Local 30 Members: Let’s take a stand for our patients and our families! Vote YES to authorize an unfair labor practice strike.

LOS ANGELES – In a move that’s raising eyebrows from workers and patients across the country, healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente is one of only a handful of the nation’s nearly 200- largest corporations that refused to sign an Aug. 19 “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation,” calling on companies to shift from making shareholders their main focus to including all of their stakeholders, including employees and the community.

In a Politico article, Kaiser Permanente said it didn’t sign the Business Roundtable pledge because it is a non-profit and doesn’t have shareholders, even though the statement focuses on broadening to all stakeholders. Two corporations without shareholders – Guardian Life and New York Life – did sign the statement.