The strike, which started Wednesday, is planned for three days in many locations.
The contracts for hundreds of positions including nurses, radiology and X-ray technicians, clinical laboratory scientists, optometrists and even housekeepers, expired on Sept. 30.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said they have been fighting since April over staffing levels, wages and outsourcing. The union said Kaiser needs to make larger investments in staffing that could help stem employee turnover and reduce growing patient wait times.
Strike lines are set up at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical office buildings across the country, including California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, D.C., the unions said.
In a statement in response to the unions, Kaiser said "every health care provider in the nation has been facing staffing shortages and fighting burnout." When the pandemic hit, the company said it provided the front-line workforce with $800 million in special benefits for housing, child care and paid leave for COVID-19.
Kaiser pledged its hospitals and emergency rooms would stay open during the strike.
The health system said it presented an "enhanced offer" to the unions on Oct. 1, that included across-the-board wage increases as well as higher minimum wages. Kaiser said it "will continue to bargain in good faith."
The company said it has already reached a deal with the union coalition to hire 10,000 new employees by the end of October.
Kaiser is the biggest health provider in California and the largest managed care organization in the country, meaning it coordinates coverage and care for all its nearly 13 million members.
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