Nearly 2,400 mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities went on strike Monday over contract talks and accusations of a “broken” health care system, while Kaiser officials say the union has moved through the bargaining process “slowly” and plans to strike before there are even labor talks. started.
“This is about mental health equity,” Jessica Rentz, a Kaiser therapist in Fontana, said in a statement from the National Union of Healthcare Workers. “We want to be with our patients, not on the picket line, but we cannot continue to work in a system that treats mental health care like an assembly line job and denies us the time and resources to provide the care we need for our patients.” know patients. need.”
According to the union, affected employees include psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, addiction medicine consultants, licensed clinical counselors and marriage and family therapists who “provide behavioral health care to Kaiser’s 4.8 million members in hospitals, clinics and medical offices. [and] home care agencies from San Diego to Bakersfield.”
The union’s contract with Kaiser expired on September 30.
The labor dispute comes a year after Kaiser reached a $50 million settlement with government regulators, who said the health care giant’s mental health system was understaffed, worsening patients’ access to care.
Kaiser officials said the organization has invested more than $1 billion since 2020 to expand its mental health capabilities in California, including hiring more therapists, adding resources and reducing wait times for patients .
However, the union says shortages are still persistent in Southern California, highlighting that Kaiser has about one therapist for every 3,000 Kaiser members, compared to one for every 2,000 in Northern California. That ratio has limited the time available for therapists to respond to patient calls and emails, develop treatment plans, and prepare for appointments, leading to burnout and causing newly hired therapists to lose their have left their jobs, the union says.
The union claims that a quarter of the 1,508 mental health professionals hired by Kaiser’s Southern California region between January 2021 and September 2024 have already left their positions.
Kaiser officials said in a statement that the health care system is committed to continued negotiations “until this deal is completed.” But it said the union has been focused on a strike since talks began and has been “slow through the negotiation process, including on the issues the union has identified as key to reaching a contract.”
“It is clear that their strategy all along has been to go on strike,” a Kaiser statement said. “They have threatened to strike since we began negotiating in July and have operated without a sense of urgency, refusing to accept or contradict the strong proposals Kaiser Permanente has put on the table. Most worryingly, the union presented a proposal that could result in a full-time therapist spending 40% or more of their work week not seeing patients.”
According to Kaiser, it has presented the union with an offer that includes an 18% pay increase over four years, and also “increases the comprehensive benefits enjoyed by our mental health professionals, and provides therapists with more non-patient time for planning and preparation.”
“Today, some workers represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) are choosing to walk away from their patients at several Kaiser Permanente facilities in Southern California to participate in an indefinite strike called by union leaders,” says Kaiser. This is stated in a statement released on Monday.
“All Kaiser Permanente members will continue to have timely access to individual therapy appointments during the strike. Patients have the opportunity to be seen by a professional in our extensive network of highly qualified, licensed therapists if their regular healthcare provider chooses to participate in the strike. Where necessary, we contact patients and offer options that meet their needs.”
Kaiser said the strike is “completely unnecessary and unfortunately not surprising.” NUHW leaders have been threatening to strike since before we started negotiating in July. The union is moving slowly in negotiations, despite the strong proposals Kaiser Permanente has put on the table. The union’s proposals at the table were exaggerated and unreasonable.
“The union is not calling for more time to care for patients. She demands more money for therapists so they can spend less time seeing patients. A key issue is how much time the union wants to take therapists away from direct patient care. suggests that full-time therapists increase the amount of time they are not seeing patients to nearly half their time – at least 19 hours per week. This is unacceptable and would significantly reduce access to mental health appointments for our patients. “
Union officials said they are seeking an agreement similar to the one reached with Kaiser mental health workers in Northern California, who went on strike for 10 weeks two years ago.
The union is asking that Kaiser guarantee full-time therapists seven hours a week for patient care tasks such as responding to patient calls and emails, developing treatment plans, communicating with social services and preparing appointments. Union officials said Kaiser only guarantees four hours per week.
The union also wants increases to bring workers on par with non-mental health workers, who the union says earn 40% more. It also calls for a restoration of pensions that the union says were abolished a decade ago for newly hired mental health professionals, even though the pensions are still in place for other workers ranging from doctors to janitors.
