South San Francisco, CA January 15, 2015 Submitted by John Nelson VP Govt Relations KP
Jan 17th UPDATE BELOW
Kaiser Permanente has more than 120,000 union members among our 175,000 employees and we continue to work cooperatively to preserve and strengthen the excellent relationships we have with nearly all of the unions that represent our employees.
We are proud of the fact our Labor Management Partnership is the largest and longest-lasting partnership of its kind in the country, and includes nearly 30 unions, covering almost 100,000 union members and tens of thousands of managers and physicians.
Kaiser Permanente bargains regularly with dozens of unions and we have shown time and time again we know how to work together to reach fair agreements. In fact, during the nearly five years we have attempted to bargain in good faith with the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), we have negotiated and reached agreements with every one of the more than 30 unions that represent our employees.
NUHW is a small California union representing fewer than 5,000 of Kaiser Permanente¹s 175,000 employees. Since its creation in 2009, it has never negotiated a contract with Kaiser Permanente. In fact, NUHW stands alone as the only union that has been unwilling or unable to reach a fair agreement concerning a contract covering our employees during that time.
Kaiser Permanente is committed to finding a solution that benefits our employees, and NUHW must have the same commitment. We are committed to continuing to bargain whenever and wherever possible to avoid a strike, and we are urging our employees to resist the call to leave members and their patients for the weeklong strike called by NUHW.
NUHW has spent the last several years publicly attacking our mental health services, while at the same time resisting important steps we are taking to enhance mental health care for our patients. Although NUHW has been using intimidation and obstructionism to try to achieve its goals, we will not let that stop us from continuing to make progress on addressing the national challenge facing all mental health care providers. We remain fully committed to meeting that challenge.
Our mental health employees are critical to our efforts to continue improving mental health care for our patients. We believe that by working together, we can better address these issues and make progress on behalf of our patients, and the industry as a whole, continuing our focus on what really matters providing our members with the best health care possible.
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UPDATE:
We’ve reached a tentative agreement with the California Nurses Association ) for a new three-year contract. As a result of this tentative agreement, the January 21-22 strike notice for Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Northern California has been withdrawn.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Kaiser Permanente is pleased to announce that it reached a tentative agreement late Friday night with the California Nurses Association (CNA) for a new three-year contract. This agreement accomplishes the priorities Kaiser Permanente laid out at the beginning of bargaining: 1) slowing the growth of our long-term liabilities; 2) offering comprehensive benefits to our nurses that are consistent with our commitment to affordability; and 3) providing operational flexibility in the workplace.
Kaiser Permanente is committed to providing the highest quality, and most affordable care to the American people while also being the best place to work. For the organization to deliver on this vision, everyone — management and labor, physicians and staff — must work together.
Kaiser Permanente has an unparalleled track record for working together constructively with labor to solve problems and make progress to improve the care and service offered to members and patients.
“We greatly respect and value our nurses,” said Gregory A. Adams, group president and regional president of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, Inc., in Northern California. “This agreement is aligned with our commitment to improve our quality and affordability and to be a national model for the delivery of health care.”
“The agreement demonstrates that Kaiser Permanente and our nurses have a shared commitment to affordability for our members,” Adams said. “Although we have had disagreements at times with CNA, as this agreement reflects, we have been able to work through those disagreements, and ultimately agree on common goals that are in the best interests of our members, employees and our entire organization.”
CNA members will be voting to ratify the new contract over the next month.
As a result of this tentative agreement, the January 21-22 strike notice for Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Northern California has been withdrawn.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve approximately 9.5 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.
– See more at: http://share.kaiserpermanente.org/article/kaiser-permanente-and-california-nurses-association-reach-agreement-strike-notice-withdrawn/#sthash.jKQeSTQM.dpuf