Kaiser mental health strike: Sept. 13
Bargaining resumes tomorrow. If you’d like to attend, please join between 8:45 and 9:15 a.m. Kaiser’s representatives are expected to join at 9:30. The Zoom link has been emailed to everyone.
Our committee remains ready to have high-level negotiations over all outstanding issues, but after more than a year of Kaiser’s stall tactics and insistence on retaining the status quo, it’s important for all of us to keep our guard up about what Kaiser might put on the table Wednesday. We also expect Kaiser to do its best to gaslight and demoralize us with its messaging. The best way for everyone to support the bargaining team is to stay on strike and head out to picket lines.
Generating more union support
On Monday, the California Federation of Labor is convening a gathering of union leaders to discuss how the labor movement can deepen its support for our strike, particularly with respect to collectively bargained health funds that pay Kaiser billions each year. We will educate union leaders on patients’ rights under the law (which Kaiser continues to do its best to keep under wraps), and engage them on how big purchasers can force Kaiser to obey the law. We’ll of course report on what comes from the meeting.
Today’s report
We had another strong day on the picket lines, where we continue to draw support from local elected officials, including Petaluma City Councilmember Dennis Pocekay, a retired Kaiser MD, who talked about his experience and donated to our hardship fund. Several clinicians gave powerful speeches addressing the Boards of Supervisors in Sacramento, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma counties, and the Solano County board committed to sending a letter to Governor Newsom. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is calling a special hearing on the strike around September 27 to hear first hand from clinicians.
Our strike was mentioned in this Washington Post article, and a complaint we filed against Kaiser was reported by NBC Bay Area as well as CalMatters. See below for photos from today’s picket lines and click here for the latest media coverage.
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