After failing to negotiate a dispute over staffing levels, more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente employees staged one of the largest healthcare worker strikes in recent US history on Wednesday.
The walkout at America’s largest non-profit healthcare group comes at a time when rising inflation has prompted strike action across the country, from Hollywood to Detroit.
The walkout by Kaiser Permanente union members began early Wednesday in Virginia and the US capital, Washington.
Later in the day, it is expected to extend to the West Coast, where the great majority of the company’s workers is headquartered.
According to a statement posted on its website, Kaiser has put in place contingency arrangements to mitigate the impact of the strike, although consumers can expect “longer than usual” wait times.
‘Disappointed’
The three-day walkout will be “the largest healthcare worker strike in US history,” the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, an umbrella group representing local unions, said last month.
According to previous coalition announcements, the union is pressing for pay increases across the board, as well as restrictions against subcontracting and labor outsourcing.
It has threatened to strike again in November “if Kaiser continues to commit unfair labor practices.”
Kaiser Permanente stated in a statement that it was “disappointed” by the strike, but that it planned to keep its medical centers open throughout the three-day strike.
“Our medical centers will remain open during the strike and will be staffed by our physicians and trained and experienced managers and staff,” it added.
Inflationary pressures
The Kaiser Permanente strike comes at a time when the United States has had an exceptionally high incidence of industrial action due to growing inflation.
Rising costs have eroded employees’ purchasing power across the country, while the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has raised fears about the automation of an increasing number of occupations.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is engaging in its first-ever unified strike action against the “Big Three” automakers — GM, Ford, and Chrysler maker Stellantis — in a push for more compensation and improved working conditions in Detroit.
As talks continue, more than 25,000 workers are on strike in 21 states, representing around 17% of the UAW’s 146,000 members.
In Hollywood, a months-long strike by writers and actors has halted California’s wealthy film industry, halting production and broadcast of major film and television productions.
While the writers have since reached an agreement to resume work, performers represented by the SAF-AFTRA union are still on strike as the final elements of their own accord with the big studios are worked out.