Oakland-based healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente (KP) and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (CKPU) announced a four-year tentative agreement that addresses staffing shortages and progressive increases in staff hourly wages on Oct. 13.
Leading up to the agreement, over 75,000 workers nationwide participated in a three-day strike from Oct. 4 to 7 to demand a comprehensive solution to the short staffing crisis in healthcare, exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased wages in adjustment to inflation, according to CKPU. The CKPU, which represents over 85,000 workers in California, Colorado, Oregon, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland and Washington, led the October strike and planned to strike long-term in November if no progress was made.
KP surgical technician Joshua Barba addressed the disparity between employee wages and KP’s $2.1 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2023 in a statement to ABC7.
“You are making more money with the fewer people you have doing the same job,” Barba said. “You are charging the same [amount] to your patients, but you are not paying the labor to do so. It’s hard. We are burning out. We are quitting.”
Following the conclusion of the strike, negotiations on both sides led to the proposal of a new contract that aims to match union demands. The contract outlines a three-year minimum wage increase from $15.50 to $25 per hour for coalition-represented workers in California and an increase from state minimum wage to $23...
News Following the Jewellers Association Australia board's publication of inaccurate and misleading claims concerning its financial affairs over the past decade, Jeweller sought clarification on th...