Historic NUHW Strike by 2,500 Kaiser Workers
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
This Wednesday, 2,500 NUHW members in Southern California engaged in a major one-day strike against Kaiser Permanente.
Nearly 2,000 of us were on the picket line at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center, sending an unmistakable message to management: We want a contract that protects patients and keeps our benefits intact. With nearly $1 billion in profits so far this year, Kaiser can easily afford to meet our demands.
Our strike was a major event in Southern California, and the media was there to report on it. Our strike was covered by The Los Angeles Times, KTLA, CBS Los Angeles, KNBC-TV, The San Diego Union-Tribune and numerous other news outlets. Kaiser Norwalk LCSW David Mallon had this great interview on NBC-LA, which you should be sure to watch and share with your co-workers.
Kaiser isn’t the only employer NUHW members are holding accountable. The Los Angeles Times ran a front page story on Thursday exposing a $1 million severance payment that Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital paid out to its former CEO three years before he retired. This latest exposé follows a series of L.A. Times stories based on NUHW research about outrageous executive compensation at SVMH.
The national media is paying attention to NUHW members’ fights at both Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and at Kaiser Permanente. On Tuesday, a top headline story in The Huffington Post profiled NUHW members “launching a counterattack on the executives” at SVMH. On Thursday, NUHW Vice President John Borsos was interviewed by MSNBC. The host of the show told viewers that NUHW members “are showing everyone how to fight back.”
NUHW members at Kaiser are going back to the bargaining table after a hugely successful strike. Because of our action this week, Kaiser’s bargaining team knows without a doubt that we’ll do whatever it takes to win a fair contract!
In unity and strength,
Jim Clifford, Therapist, Otay Mesa Kaiser Psychiatry, San Diego
National Union of Healthcare Workers
P.S. If you have personal photos from our strike in Los Angeles that you’d like to see in our online slideshow, please send them to NUHW Communications Director Leighton Woodhouse at lwoodhouse@nuhw.org. And join our Facebook group to stay updated on the latest news!