Kaiser Permanente pharmacy workers in Oregon and Washington plan to strike for three weeks in October, adding to the growing tally of what could be the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history.
The contracted pharmacy employees accuse Kaiser of engaging in unfair labor practices during months of negotiations aimed at bolstering staffing levels and increasing wages for first-year employees and those working nights and weekends.
Local 555 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a union that represents pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy staff at the Oakland, Calif.-based system, said Sept. 20 that 99.6 percent of its members voted to strike from Oct. 1 to Oct. 21.
About 1,000 pharmacy technicians plan to strike, according to The Lund Report, but a Kaiser spokesperson said the union includes 380 pharmacy technicians, pharmacy clerks and pharmacy warehouse employees.
The union alleged that Kaiser representatives have been "failing to provide information regarding bargaining and grievances, attempting to directly deal with our members and attempting to dictate to the union who may serve as its representative."
"The number one issue at Kaiser is the lack of staffing," Dan Clay, president of Local 555, said in a release. "Workers are burning out, patients are having to wait months to receive care, and the problem is only getting worse."
Other Kaiser workers in California, Colorado, Maryland, Oregon and Southwest Washington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., have authorized strikes for this fall if a resolution is not found soon. Early estimates place the potential strike to involve 85,000 Kaiser employees.
"A strike notice does not mean a strike will happen," a Kaiser spokesperson told Becker's. "We are confident we'll reach an agreement before the national agreement expires on September 30. Our top priority is caring for our members and patients."
The spokesperson added that, if a strike happens, its inpatient hospital pharmacies will be able to continue operating.