Despite strong offer on the table, strike notices received

This message was sent to Alliance-represented employees on Saturday, October 4.

Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions held our sixth national bargaining session from September 26 to October 2. With support from mediators, negotiations continued through the weekend and late into the night to work toward a new agreement.

Despite the strength of our offer and the progress we are making in bargaining, we are disappointed to receive 10-day strike notices from several local Alliance unions. We believe a strike, and the potential disruption to you as well as our members and patients, is unnecessary. Especially when we’ve made a compelling offer for you. We strengthened our previous robust economic offer even further by increasing our across-the-board wage offer to a total of 21.5% over 4 years.

Taking into consideration the economic environment, our across-the-board 4-year wage increases would average 14.0% in total, consistent with the current annual wage inflation rate of 3.4%. As shared in our discussions with the Alliance, we recognize the wage inflation rate during the pandemic and our current offer reflects significantly higher wage increases.

Our mission calls on us to keep care affordable

Health care in this country is increasingly unaffordable with more people at risk of losing coverage. While our offer is intended to respond to your concerns regarding wage increases, we are also honoring our commitment to affordability for our members.

Our latest proposal includes a new schedule that would deliver a 16% total wage increase in the first 24 months of the contract.

• 2025: 6.5% wage increase in October (this month)
• 2026: 6.5% wage increase in October
• 2027: 5.5 % wage increase (3% wage increase in August and an additional 2.5% wage increase in October)
• 2028: 3% wage increase in October

Additional bargaining updates

Also in this bargaining session, both parties aligned on a number of issues that will be brought to the Common Issues Committee for a vote on becoming tentative agreements.

Separately, local bargaining also continued this week, with 16 tables reaching overall tentative agreements on the terms contained within the local collective bargaining agreements. Closing all local bargaining tables is essential to reaching a tentative agreement in national bargaining.

Despite receiving 10-day strike notices, and in keeping with our desire to reach an agreement, we have agreed to an additional bargaining session from October 6 through October 10. We want to keep working productively at the bargaining table for an agreement, if possible, that supports your well-being and helps us deliver high-quality health care that is affordable for our members and patients.

We ask the Alliance to continue engaging in bargaining, rather than taking actions that could impact you and the care of our members and patients who need us, when we are offering you competitive pay, excellent benefits, and significant investments in your career development.

Thank you for all that you do to care for our members and patients every day.

For more information and ongoing updates, please visit kp.org/alliancebargaining and read the details of our latest economic offer.