The American Federation of Labor, which launched a 72-hour strike last week involving 75,000 health care workers against Kaiser Permanente, has given the health care organization nearly three weeks to reach a contract agreement or face a second mass strike next month that could last longer.
In September, 150,000 auto industry workers in the United States launched a general strike. Now the auto industry strike has entered its fourth week, and this wave of strikes has spread to the U.S. medical industry. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said on Monday local time that it had given the company a notice that unless the two parties reached a settlement in advance, a week-long "subsequent mass strike" might begin on November 1. The health care organization did not immediately respond to the union's latest strike deadline.
According to public information, Kaiser Permanente is a leading non-profit hospital network and managed care organization in the United States. The institution is one of the largest comprehensive healthcare institutions in the United States and the largest private managed care institution in the United States, providing a full range of healthcare services including medical insurance, medical services, hospital management, pharmacy services, etc. Kaiser Permanente's services cover all aspects of preventive care, hospital treatment, emergency care, surgery, medication management, health plans and more. When former U.S. President Obama promoted the national health insurance policy, he repeatedly regarded Kaiser Permanente as an industry model.
It is reported that the focus of the labor dispute is workers' demands for higher wages and measures to alleviate the agency's chronic staff shortages and high turnover rates. Union officials say the problems are hurting Kaiser Permanente's patient care planning.
Negotiators from the union and Kaiser Permanente said they would return to the bargaining table on Thursday, eight days after the last round of contract talks collapsed, despite mediation efforts from Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su. Julie Su's office said that she plans to go to California again this week to resume negotiations and seek an agreement.
Last week, more than 75,000 nurses, medical technicians and technical support staff walked on pickets at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente facilities and some affiliated clinics in California, Oregon, Washington state, Colorado, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
This large-scale strike involving more than 75,000 people lasted for three days and was the largest strike in the U.S. medical industry to date. Kaiser Permanente said some hospitals and emergency departments have remained open and staffed with doctors, administrators and "emergency staff" during the strike.
Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest medical institutions in the United States, admitted that due to the occupational "burnout" caused by the new crown epidemic and the increased work intensity after the epidemic, there are staff shortages throughout the health care industry; Kaiser Permanente stated that the burnout problem has led to the resignation of more than 5 million medical staff across the United States.
Kaiser's practice of outsourcing medical responsibilities to third-party vendors and subcontractors also became a major sticking point in negotiations that dragged on for six months, the union said. The workers' last contract expired on September 30.
As U.S. inflation has continued to rise since last year and companies have failed to increase wages to keep up with rising prices, the earning power of American workers has continued to be eroded. The conflict between workers and employers puts Kaiser Permanente at the forefront of growing labor unrest in the health care industry and across the U.S. economy.
The deadline set by the union for a follow-on strike coincides with the expiration of the contracts of another 3,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in the Seattle area, which would put them on the line for a second union strike if one occurred, the union said.
The timetable of the "Medical Industry Strike" currently planned by the union shows that the strike will start at 6 a.m. local time on November 1 and last until 6 a.m. on November 8. If the strike starts, its scale and time span will exceed the scale of the general strike in October, and it will become an unprecedented scale of strikes in the American medical system.