Current:Home > NewsKaiser Permanente workers ratify contract after strike over wages and staffing levels-InfoLens
Kaiser Permanente workers ratify contract after strike over wages and staffing levels
View Date:2024-12-23 11:11:04
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Tens of thousands of health care workers have ratified a new four-year contract with industry giant Kaiser Permanente following a strike over wages and staffing levels, the parties announced Thursday.
Of the 85,000 members in the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, 98.5% voted in recent weeks to ratify the contract, the coalition said in a press release. It runs retroactively from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2027.
The deal includes setting minimum hourly wages at $25 in California, where most of Kaiser’s facilities are located, and $23 in other states. Workers will also see a 21% wage increase over four years.
The agreement also includes protective terms around subcontracting and outsourcing, as well as initiatives to invest in the current workforce and address the staffing crisis. The workers’ last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The three-day strike last month involved 75,000 workers in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Some 180 workers from facilities in Virginia and Washington, D.C., also picketed for one day. The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in the radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments.
Oakland, California-based Kaiser has hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans, and union members said understaffing is boosting the hospital system’s profits but hurting patients.
Both sides said they prioritized patient health care during their talks. Steve Shields, Kaiser’s senior vice president of labor relations, said previously that the deal will not affect consumer rates.
veryGood! (25)
Related
- See Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani's Winning NFL Outing With Kids Zuma and Apollo
- Man arrested at JFK Airport in plot to join ISIS in Syria
- Liam Payne Death Investigation: 3 People of Interest Detained in Connection to Case
- Democratic incumbent Don Davis wins reelection in North Carolina’s only toss-up congressional race
- New Pentagon report on UFOs includes hundreds of new incidents but no evidence of aliens
- Bachelor's Kelsey Anderson Addresses Joey Graziadei Relationship Status Amid Personal Issues
- Bowen Yang Apologizes to Ariana Grande for Being Over Eager About SNL Kiss
- Jury convicts man of killing girlfriend and hiding her body in rural Minnesota
- Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
- Average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the US rises for 6th straight week
Ranking
- Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight odds will shift the longer the heavyweight bout goes
- Judge blocks Pentagon chief’s voiding of plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, others in 9/11 case
- Gypsy Rose Blanchard posts paternity test results to quell rumors surrounding pregnancy
- Michigan man sentenced to 30 years in prison for role in online child exploitation ring
- Kennesaw State football coach Brian Bohannon steps down after 10 seasons amid first year in FBS
- Man arrested at JFK Airport in plot to join ISIS in Syria
- Starbucks holiday menu 2024 returns with new refreshers, food items: See the full menu
- Gypsy Rose Blanchard posts paternity test results to quell rumors surrounding pregnancy
Recommendation
-
Armie Hammer Says His Mom Gifted Him a Vasectomy for His 38th Birthday
-
Olympian Madeline Musselman Honors Husband Pat Woepse After Fatal Cancer Battle
-
Mississippi man dies after being 'buried under hot asphalt' while repairing dump truck
-
40 monkeys escape from Alpha Genesis research facility in South Carolina
-
Republican Vos reelected as Wisconsin Assembly speaker despite losing seats, fights with Trump
-
Christina Applegate's fiery response to Trump supporters and where we go from here
-
Can legislation combat the surge of non-consensual deepfake porn? | The Excerpt
-
'Fat Leonard' contractor in US Navy bribery scandal sentenced to 15 years in prison