Talks between Kaiser Permanente and the Service Employees International Union have stalled, a union official told Bloomberg Oct. 5.
Talks hit a wall Oct. 4 over wages, outsourcing protections for current workers and staffing levels, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which includes SEIU, told Bloomberg.
More than 75,000 workers began a three-day strike Oct. 4 at Kaiser hospitals and medical office buildings in California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon, and a one-day strike in Virginia and Washington, D.C. The coalition has deemed the strike as the largest healthcare worker strike in the U.S.
Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser, in a statement shared with Becker's on Oct. 4, said management and union representatives worked through the night of Oct. 3 in an effort to reach an agreement.
"There has been a lot of progress, with agreements reached on several specific proposals," the statement read.
On Oct. 5, Kaiser referred Becker's to a statement indicating it is coordinating with coalition leaders to reconvene bargaining as soon as possible. The unions' national contract with Kaiser expired Sept. 30.
"We will work hard to reach an agreement so that together, we can all return to delivering on the mission of Kaiser Permanente for the benefit of our members, patients, employees, physicians, customers and communities," the statement read.
Workers on strike include licensed vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, certified nursing assistants, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, teleservice representatives, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, optometrists, dietary services, behavioral health workers, surgical technicians, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, transporters, home health aides, phlebotomists, medical assistants, dental assistants, call center representatives, and housekeepers, among other positions.
"If it doesn't get settled, the workers will vote again to authorize their bargaining committee to call additional strikes," Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union, told Bloomberg.