SAN FRANCISCO — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Planned five-day strike of thousands of Kaiser Permanente registered nurses and other health care workers in California, Hawaii and Oregon ended Sunday, union leaders and the health system said.
California-based Kaiser Permanente said it welcomed about 30,000 employees to participate in the strike, which began Tuesday and ended Sunday morning. The statement said its facilities are “staffed by physicians, experienced managers and trained staff, as well as nearly 6,000 contract nurses, clinicians and others who worked with us during the strike.”
Plans call for negotiations to resume this week with a focus on “economic issues,” the statement said. While unions have also raised personnel and other issues, “wages are the reason for the strike and the main issue in the negotiations,” the statement said.
The California United Nurses Association/Health Professionals Union, which represents registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse-midwives and other health care professionals in California and Hawaii, said in a statement that the strike affected more than 500 hospitals and clinics. The statement said the strike sent a message that “patient care and staff safety must come first.”
He announced plans to resume negotiations later this month.
Sarina Roher, president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professions, said in a statement that Kaiser Permanente “cannot solve our workforce and access crisis without competitive wages that retain and recruit the quality professionals our patients depend on.”
Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation's largest not-for-profit health plans, serving 12.6 million members in 600 medical offices and 40 hospitals, primarily in the western United States.
