Striking Kaiser Permanente psychologists, social workers and other healthcare professionals will head to Oakland, Calif., and Los Angeles Dec. 17 for rallies and a march on Kaiser corporate headquarters, according to the union that represents them.
The National Union of Healthcare Workers said the rally in Los Angeles is scheduled for noon outside Kaiser's medical center. In Oakland, where Kaiser is based, workers plan to march from the Kaiser medical center to Kaiser corporate headquarters and then hold a noon rally outside Kaiser headquarters.
The rallies come one day after psychologists, mental health therapists and other medical professionals at Kaiser began a five-day strike at facilities across California.
The National Union of Healthcare Workers expects about 4,000 Kaiser caregivers to participate in the strike, potentially shutting down mental health services at more than 100 Kaiser facilities. On Dec. 17, the union said buses will carry hundreds of workers to Oakland and Los Angeles medical centers.
Kaiser and the union have been working on a contract for about a year. Union members have been asking Kaiser to reduce patient wait times for therapy appointments and protested what they called barriers to mental health access. They went on strike in December 2018. Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers postponed a strike last month. The strike was initially scheduled for Nov. 11 to Nov. 15 but was rescheduled for Dec. 16 to Dec. 20 after the death of Kaiser Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson.
The union claims Kaiser clinics are understaffed, patients routinely have to wait six to eight weeks for therapy appointments and clinicians are overbooked. It specifically points to a survey conducted in April, in which it says 77 percent of Kaiser's clinicians reported that they must schedule their patients' return appointments further into the future than is clinically appropriate.
In a statement about the strike, Kaiser said that it has been working with an external, neutral mediator to help both sides reach a contract agreement.
The healthcare giant also said the walkout is primarily motivated by a desire for better pay and retirement benefits, rather than improving patient care, as picketers say, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Additionally, the newspaper reports that Kaiser said it has hired nearly 500 therapists in California this year, is building "dozens" of new treatment facilities, and that follow-up appointments are occurring "within the appropriate time frame up to 84 percent of the time."
To read the full report, click here. To view a full schedule of picket locations, click here.
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