Santa Clara nurses strike for third week against Kaiser Permanente
Santa Clara, CA – On February 10, 80 nurses and healthcare professionals gathered in front of the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center to demand Kaiser Permanente meet them in good-faith at the bargaining table.
The United Nurses Associations of California/ United Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) are in their third week of an Unfair Labor Practice strike against Kaiser Permanente. Since the COVID lockdown of 2020, Kaiser Permanente has not replaced staff and threatens to cut benefits while taking away workplace protections, leading to high turnover and caregiver burnout among staff.
Nurses and healthcare professionals held signs with “On strike to protect our professions” and “Not thriving.” In addition to a picket line, they had picnic blankets and a DJ playing music that the community could enjoy while being in solidarity. Nurses and healthcare professionals discussed burnout and understaffing leading to delayed patient care. Cam Cook, a nurse anesthetist, said, “Kaiser is retaliating against our groups for organizing, for unionizing. They are trying to cut our benefits: healthcare and retirement.”
For the past couple of years, Kaiser Permanente has been ignoring nurses and healthcare professionals when they share the concerns they have about the quality of care patients are receiving. “That means a lot of long and difficult nights for providers like me,” said Cook. “We have been trying to have that addressed by Kaiser, but they have largely ignored us.”
During contract negotiations, Kaiser Permanente continued to waste the valuable time of nurses and healthcare professionals by continually not showing up to the bargaining table. “We can sum up what [Kaiser Permanente] has been doing as union busting,” stated Cook.
In addition to no-showing, union members report that Kaiser has taken punitive measures to retaliate against workers. “There has been a lot of retaliation in terms of not allowing people to change their schedules or do things we used to do,” Cooke continued.
Many strikers expressed that, although the strike is difficult, they feel a sense of newfound unity and solidarity with their coworkers that they do not see very often in the workplace. Physical therapists and nurse anesthetists pass each other by in hospital hallways every day, but on this picket line they stand together, united against Kaiser Permanente’s union busting.