Bargaining for a new national contract with the Alliance of Health Care Unions resumes on October 22.
Kaiser Permanente is resuming normal operations with a focus on the continued delivery of high-quality, affordable care to our members and communities. We welcome back the 30,000 Alliance-represented employees who are returning from the 5-day strike that ended at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 19.
We are deeply grateful to our front-line care teams who leaned in to ensure the continuity of outstanding patient care last week. Our facilities were staffed by physicians, experienced managers, and trained staff, along with nearly 6,000 contracted nurses, clinicians, and others who worked with us during the strike.
Together these teams enabled Kaiser Permanente to minimize disruption and ensure our patients experienced the highest levels of care quality.
Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance have jointly agreed to resume bargaining October 22 and 23. The focus will be on economic issues. While the Alliance has publicly emphasized staffing and other concerns, wages are the reason for the strike and the primary issue in negotiations.
We recognize our employees’ hard work and have offered a strong contract proposal that includes 21.5% in total base wage increases over 4 years, and enhances their high-value medical plans and retiree benefits.
At a time when the cost of health care continues to go up steeply, and millions of Americans are having to make the difficult choice to go without coverage, it’s critical that we keep quality, accessible health care coverage affordable — while attracting and retaining top talent and keeping Kaiser Permanente a great place to work and receive care. Our offer does all this.