To date, 7 tentative agreements have been signed during bargaining between Kaiser Permanente in Southern California and NUHW.
Kaiser Permanente and NUHW held their sixth bargaining session on Wednesday, September 4. Wednesday’s bargaining covered a broad range of topics — including economic proposals from Kaiser Permanente and NUHW. During the morning session, the parties signed 2 tentative agreements:
These additional agreements increased the number of signed tentative agreements to 7.
Kaiser Permanente also provided multiple counterproposals including:
Kaiser Permanente and NUHW discussed a previously rejected union proposal on Professional Hours.
NUHW delivered the following economic proposals:
Amid this progress, the union is threatening to strike. It’s disappointing that the union has been engaging in strike discussions with our therapists so early in the bargaining process. This is an unnecessary distraction and may raise undue concern from our members and patients. Despite NUHW’s stated willingness to engage in a work stoppage, our commitment to reaching a fair agreement for our therapists has not changed. Neither has our view that continued discussions at the bargaining table are the best way to reach a new contract. We remain committed to negotiating in good faith.
Our patients’ and members’ safety and well-being are our top priorities. Kaiser Permanente takes the threat of a strike seriously. We have developed robust contingency plans to ensure the continuation of care and service for our behavioral health and addiction medicine patients if a strike should be called by the union after the current contract ends September 30.
We look forward to our next in-person bargaining sessions scheduled for September 16, September 24, and September 30. The parties are discussing adding additional bargaining dates.