Kaiser Permanente workers vote on nationwide strike

Kaiser Permanente workers began voting this week on whether to authorize a nationwide unfair labor practices strike.

Staffing is a major concern of the workers, which include medical assistants, registration representatives, certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses and housekeeping staff.

“It’s about keeping people in positions and providing good, safe, quality health care,” Jennifer Forrester, a medical assistant at Kaiser Permanente’s Interstate Avenue campus in North Portland, said Wednesday as workers trickled into a conference room to cast ballots on their breaks.

The ballot offers two options:

• “I vote YES to authorize our bargaining team to call for a strike to protest Kaiser’s illegal behavior and unfair labor practices and to show my support for a contract with good raises, no take-aways and a ban on subcontracting.”

• “I vote NO and am willing to accept a contract that increases our medical costs, cuts our pensions and retiree medical benefits, offers lower pay scales and raises that are less for Oregon and Washington than California.”

Read more: https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2019/08/07/kaiser-permanente-workers-voteon-nationwide-strike.html
(Portland Business Journal)