MESSAGE TO OUR
EMPLOYEES
Kaiser Permanente and NUHW met for the 24th time since bargaining began in July.
This message was sent on behalf of Lionel Sims, interim senior vice president, Human Resources, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals; and Priya Smith, chief employee human resources officer, The Permanente Medical Group; to Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California mental health and addiction medicine professionals on January 21, 2026.
To our mental health and addiction medicine professionals,
On Friday, January 16, Kaiser Permanente and the National Union of Healthcare Workers bargaining teams continued negotiations for a new contract for our Northern California mental health and addiction medicine employees.
We remain focused on reaching an agreement that allows us greater flexibility to provide members with timely access to excellent mental health care, while maintaining a great place to work for our mental health professionals.
In an effort to move negotiations forward, Kaiser Permanente presented a comprehensive proposal that included tentative agreements to date, as well as proposals for all remaining open items. Notably, our proposal includes an increase in our previously proposed ATBs, moving from 17% to 17.5% over 4 years.
The NUHW bargaining team presented 3 counterproposals: Wages (Article 17, Section 7), Health and Welfare Benefits for Active Employees (Article 22), and Retirement Plans (Article 25).
The next bargaining sessions take place on Thursday, January 22, and Thursday, January 29. We will continue to come to the table with the goal of reaching a reasonable agreement that serves our members, patients, and mental health clinicians.
We are grateful for all you do to care for our members and patients each and every day.
For more information, visit kp.org/nuhwbargaining.