Mental health care workers at Kaiser Permanente are heading back to the picket lines Wednesday at multiple Southern California medical centers in a continuing dispute with management.
National Union of Healthcare Workers officials said workers would be picketing be at the following locations this week:
Wednesday
— 1011 Baldwin Park, Baldwin Park
— 43112 15th St. W, Lancaster
— 6650 Alton Parkway, Irvine
— 9961 Sierra Ave., Fontana
— San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
Thursday
— West Los Angeles Medical Center, 6041 Cadillac Ave.
— 9333 Imperial Highway, Downey
— 9961 Sierra Ave., Fontana
— San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
Friday
— Los Angeles Medical Center, 4867 W. Sunset Blvd.
— 13651 Willard St., Panorama City
— San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
— 10800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside
Picket lines will begin at 8 a.m. and run through 2 p.m.
The company said it was prepared to ensure the continuation of patient service during the strike.
“As part of its important regulatory role, the Department of Managed Health Care will continue to review the effectiveness of our plans to deliver care during the open-ended NUHW strike. We discussed our plans with the DMHC well before the strike started and continue to have regular discussions with the department. Our plans have been thorough, well thought out, and well executed,” a Kaiser spokesperson said in a statement released Wednesday.
“As part of the DMHC*s continued oversight during NUHW’s unnecessary and counterproductive strike, the department has already conducted a site visit of our operations. We will continue to fully cooperate with the DMHC through the strike.”
Kaiser said it is disappointed with the union’s decision to strike but it is pleased with how well their strike continuity plan is working.
“We are confident that patients, coming to Kaiser Permanente for healing are continuing to get the exceptional care they have come to expect,” Kaiser said. “And we are grateful to the thousands of physicians and employees who are making this happen day in and day out.”
No bargaining sessions are scheduled for this week.
According to the union, the key issues remain “Kaiser’s unwillingness to provide its nearly 2,400 mental health professionals in Southern California the same amount of time for critical patient care duties that can’t be done during appointments as their counterparts in Northern California — as well as the same wage levels and retirement benefits as comparable workers throughout the Kaiser system.”
The company had a different take.
” … Throughout this difficult time, our goal remains the same: to reach an agreement with NUHW,” Kaiser said. “That said, we will not agree to reduce our therapists’ non-clinical care time to nearly 50% of their workweek. This would dramatically reduce the availability of critically needed patient appointments by more than 15,000 every month. Further, we are committed to paying our employees wages that are up to 10% above market. Our therapists are currently paid on average 18% above market in Southern California. We will not agree to a new contract that places their pay more than 40% above what their peers make across Southern California.”
“… We have put a strong offer on the table and are eager to do the hard work needed — at the table — to reach an agreement that benefits both our valued mental health workers and the patients we all serve.”
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According to the union, the impacted workers include psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, addiction medicine counselors, licensed clinical counselors and marriage and family therapists who “provide behavioral health care for Kaiser’s 4.8 million members in hospitals, clinics and medical offices [and] homecare settings from San Diego to Bakersfield.”
The union’s contract with Kaiser expired Sept. 30.
The labor dispute comes one year after Kaiser reached a $50 million settlement with state regulators who said the health care giant’s mental health care system lacked adequate staffing that caused lapses in access to care for patients.
Kaiser officials said the organization has invested more than $1 billion since 2020 to expand its mental health capabilities in California, including hiring more therapists, the addition of resources and reductions in wait times for patients.