Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente reached a tentative contract agreement in time to avert a strike that was scheduled to begin Nov. 16, according to a Marin Independent Journal report.
Here are nine things to know about the pact.
1. The pact was reached one day before mental health workers were set to start walking off the job.
2. If a deal had not been reached, roughly 1,400 Northern California mental health workers — represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers— would have gone on strike. The union planned to have 42 rolling picket lines at 24 Kaiser facilities during the first week of the open-ended strike. The strike would have been the second this year for Kaiser's mental health clinicians, who have been without a contract for more than four years. The first strike was in January.
3. The tentative contract settlement provides a raise of more than 15 percent over three years.
4. Specifically, if ratified by the union's 1,400 members, the new contract will award Kaiser psychologists, psychiatric social workers and marriage and family therapists a 6 percent raise in the first year and 4.5 percent raises in each of the next two years, according to the report.
5. The contract, which was negotiated with help from former California State Sen. President Darrell Steinberg, also provides for more return appointments in therapists' schedules, Kaiser said, according to the Marin Independent Journal.
6. In addition, the agreement calls for a 1-to-4 ratio of new-to-return patients. According to the report, the union said the ratio would make sure there is timely access to ongoing care for Kaiser mental health patients.
7. As part of the deal, Kaiser agreed to drop proposed cuts to pensions and create a joint committee to review retirement benefits, according to the Marin Independent Journal
8. The pact also offers the following, according to the report.
- Up to 5 percent in performance bonuses
- Higher supplemental pay for bilingual ability
- The inclusion of staff on teams that examine how to improve mental health services
9. Kaiser's mental health workers will vote on the proposed three-year contract in coming weeks.