A massive health care strike over wages and staffing shortages headed into its final day on Friday without a deal between industry giant Kaiser Permanente and the unions representing the 75,000 workers who picketed this week.
The three-day strike carried out in multiple states will officially end Saturday at 6 a.m., and workers were expected to return to their jobs in Kaiser’s hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans. The two sides did not have any bargaining sessions scheduled after concluding their talks midday Wednesday.
The strike for three days in California — where most of Kaiser’s facilities are located — as well as in Colorado, Oregon and Washington was a last resort after Kaiser executives ignored the short-staffing crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, union officials said. Their goal was to bring the problems to the public’s consciousness for support, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. Some 180 workers from facilities in Virginia and Washington, D.C., also picketed but only on Wednesday.
It can let the employer know that the employees are absolutely willing to strike while also not putting patients’ lives at risk. Even short strikes can be a massive headache for the company.