Nearly 60,000 unionized healthcare workers across the state voted overwhelmingly to authorize their union to call a strike if labor talks break down with Kaiser Permanente.
According to the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the workers voted by a 98% margin in favor of a walkout of a labor contract can't be reached. The vote does not mean a strike will occur. It only authorizes the union to call one if union leaders deem contract talks to be at a stalemate.
"For weeks, Kaiser sent us messages telling us to reject a strike," Miriam De La Paz, a Labor and Delivery Unit secretary at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Downey, said in a statement released by the union."Their millionaire executives implied we were imagining the delays in care our patients are experiencing and ignored the fact that our families are struggling more and more to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Kaiser officials issued a statement Thursday saying the health care provider is"confident we'll reach an agreement before the national agreement expires on Sept. 30 that strengthens our position as a best place to work and ensures that the high-quality care our members expect from us remains affordable and easy to access."
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