Kaiser Permanente, union reach deal

Kaiser Permanente and the healthcare union workers have reached a deal over staffing and pay after the union had said that staffing shortages were at a crisis level.

>> Read more trending news

The specific terms of the agreement have not been released, according to Reuters, which reported that higher pay and increased hiring are part of the deal.

“Unfortunately, it’s a financial burden for us that live paycheck to paycheck,” Josephine Rios told The Associated Press last week. “We can’t afford to strike a long time, but it’s a double-edged sword. We can’t afford not to strike.”

In August, the unions representing workers had asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage and an increase of 7% for the first two years then 6.25% for the following two years, the AP reported. Kaiser countered with a $21 to $23 minimum hourly wage depending on location. It also had pledged to hire 10,000 more employees.

More than 75,000 nurses, pharmacists and other Kaiser employees had hit the picket lines earlier this month and was the largest healthcare strike on record, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The nationwide strike lasted three days and ended Oct. 7 at 6 a.m., the AP reported.

A coalition of unions representing the workers released a statement on Facebook announcing that a deal had been struck.

President Joe Biden also released a statement Friday afternoon showing his gratitude for both sides for reaching a deal. The statement read in part, “Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals – and our nation– going during the dark months of the pandemic. They had our backs during one of our nation’s toughest times. We must continue to have theirs.”

Kaiser Permanente, which is based in Oakland, California, serves 12.7 million people at 40 hospitals and more than 620 medical offices across the country but mostly on the West Coast, the newspaper reported. It has about 213,000 employees who are not doctors, the newspaper reported.

©2023 Cox Media Group