Kaiser Permanente workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize strike with 93% YES votes

UNITEHERE! Local 5

Press Release for October 20, 2021

Media Contact:

Bryant de Venecia

Cell Phone: (808) 546-0024

bdevenecia@5.unitehere.org

Kaiser Permanente workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize strike with 93% YES votes

 

(Hawaii) – Workers across the country are saying “enough is enough!” Nearly 2,000 UNITE HERE Local 5 members at Kaiser Permanente join 40,000 health care workers across the nation who are fired up—voting to authorize a strike with 93% YES votes.

 

After a year of negotiations, Kaiser Permanente did not move on most of the union’s proposal, instead offered a measly 1% pay increase across the board and an insulting two-tier wage system that would threaten to cut 26-33% of wages for future hires. The company is also ignoring the staffing concerns that pervade all Kaiser Permanente facilities across the nation. UNITE HERE Local 5 and the Alliance of Healthcare Unions maintain that a two-tier wage proposal would exacerbate the already-existing crisis in staffing and worker shortages. Health care workers are reporting exhaustion and burn-out as they continue to provide patient care while COVID-19 surges.

 

Hollie Sili, an ER Tech at Kaiser Permanente Moanalua shared, “They called us “heroes” throughout this pandemic; now that it’s time for a new contract, the company is telling us we’re only worth a 1% increase. This is insulting to all health care workers considering how much we have sacrificed. Kaiser is saying “don’t walk away from your patients.” I’m not walking away from anyone; in fact, I carry my patients with me. We’re fighting for what we deserve.”

 

Kaiser Permanente is worth over $42 billion and has amassed a fortune of $44.5 billion in cash reserves. In 2020, the company made $2.2 billion in profits, while frontline health care workers risked their lives in the pandemic and the country faced a historic economic crisis. Kaiser Permanente did so well despite COVID-19 that they rejected $500 million in federal CARES Act money to support its operations. Membership grew by 17% nationally since 2015; 5% in Hawaii alone.

 

Flor Malano, a Cardiac Monitor Technician at Kaiser Moanalua shared, ““It is egregious to have to choose between patient care and taking care of the workers who provide that care. We should do both—and our fight does that. Our goal is to be the best place to work and that will lead to the best care for our patients. We will be proud of what Kaiser becomes when we win.”

 

UNITE HERE Local 5 represents roughly 2,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente. Local 5 is a part of the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which represents over 50,000 members across hundreds of job classifications in nearly every geographic area where Kaiser Permanente has a presence. This latest strike authorization from Local 5 is an addition to 30,000 health care workers who already voted to strike against Kaiser Permanente, and 10,000 more who are voting at the end of October.

 

Local 5 represents approximately 12,000 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries and is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.unitehere5.org.

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Amid failed contract negotiations, Kaiser workers begin vote on possible strike

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After months of failed contract negotiations, nearly 2,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente began voting Thursday on whether to authorize a strike.

Kaiser health care workers to vote on strike following failed contract negotiations

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After months of failed contract negotiations, nearly 2,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente are set to vote on whether to authorize a strike.

For Immediate Release: Kaiser Permanente workers to vote on whether to authorize strike

UNITE HERE! Local 5

Press Release for October 1, 2021

Media Contact:

Bryant de Venecia

Cell Phone: (808) 546-0024

bdevenecia@5.unitehere.org

Kaiser Permanente workers to vote on whether to authorize strike

Nearly 2,000 UNITE HERE Local 5 members will join over 40,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers across the nation preparing to strike after months of failed negotiations

 

(Hawaii) – UNITE HERE Local 5 members at Kaiser Permanente will vote on whether to authorize a strike. The contract between the union and the company expired on September 30, 2021—impacting nearly 2,000 health care workers in Hawaii. They will join more than 40,000 workers across the country gearing up to strike against the health care company.

Daniel Kerwin of Local 5 Negotiations Team stated, “Workers on the frontline at Kaiser Permanente, like many healthcare workers during this pandemic, are performing heroic duty. While they bravely fought the pandemic and put the patients first—often to the point of mental and physical exhaustion—Kaiser decided to offer Hawaii’s workers the lowest wage increase in the country and ignore their staffing concerns. Instead of treating their workers like heroes, they are treating them like zeroes.”

Kaiser Permanente has been a big winner financially during the pandemic, growing their net worth to over $44 billion. In 2020, the company made $2.2 billion in operating profit, and more than $6 billion in net income. Kaiser Permanente did so well despite COVID-19 that they rejected $500 million in federal CARES Act money to support its operations. Membership grew by 17% nationally since 2015; 5% in Hawaii.

Regardless of all the wealth Kaiser has accrued, the company is proposing a divisive two-tier wage system that offers only 1% wage increases to current employees, and much lower pay for new hires. UNITE HERE Local 5 and the Alliance of Healthcare Unions maintain that a two-tier wage proposal would exacerbate the already-existing crisis in staffing and worker shortages. Health care workers are reporting exhaustion and burn-out as they continue to provide patient care while COVID-19 surges.

Flor Malano, a Cardiac Monitor Technician at Kaiser Moanalua shared, “I’ve been at Kaiser Permanente for 24 years and this is the worst instance of short-staffing, which is even more difficult because of the pandemic. We are burnt out and tired; no one wants to pick up extra shifts anymore. Kaiser needs to do more to retain workers by offering good wages and benefits and addressing our short-staffing issues.”

Alexsis Crowell, an MA at the Honolulu Clinic Primary Care department stated, “Kaiser Permanente needs to provide fair wages and address staffing problems. We are constantly exhausted from our job; we feel like there’s not enough help. Kaiser needs to have our back because they always say we’re ʻohana, but I don’t feel like they’re treating us like family.”

UNITE HERE Local 5 represents nearly 2,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente. Local 5 is a part of the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which represents over 50,000 members across hundreds of job classifications in nearly every geographic area where Kaiser Permanente has a presence.

 

Local 5 represents approximately 12,000 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries and is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.unitehere5.org.

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Reality is next to imagination!

This opinion piece was written by Hilton Hawaiian Village housekeeper, Nely Reinante. If you would like to write for Local 5, contact us!

I was recalled back at work as a housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on the third week of June 2021. Since coming back to work, I have had plenty of checkout rooms to clean and my energy is drained at the end of the day. I am having shortness of breath and trouble sleeping. I have constant headaches and my hands are in pain, so I need to take pain relievers several times of the day.

Hilton is only doing daily room cleaning upon request. Before I returned to work, I was imagining the filthy rooms not being cleaned every day. Now that I got recalled back at work, that became a reality! I witnessed with my own two eyes and my own body experienced the overwork caused by no daily room cleaning. The struggle is real!

Some bathtubs are black. Some toilets are brown. Instead of doing just a couple of strokes to clean, I need to put extra effort to scrub them. My work has tripled compared to before the pandemic. Dust and sand are piling up. You can’t vacuum fast because the vacuum can’t suck the piled-up sand at once. Sometimes I have to bring the linen cart all the way to the bathroom to collect the very heavy, wet towels piled up. Some are dripping. It’s terrible! Not to mention the overflowing trash cans! It’s a pretty nasty smell.

On my work days, my energy is all spent at work. No more is left for my home and family. It is so sad! I can no longer massage my husband, who is also tired at work. Before, we would take turns massaging each other. Now, I am the only one getting pampered. Even my 9-year-old daughter is massaging me, too. I feel so bad because I am supposed to be the one pampering her because of her health concerns, not the other way around. I wonder, is this how hard the impact is of not having daily room cleaning?

I am happy and grateful that I am back to work, but sad at the same time. It is so frustrating because if only there is daily room cleaning, these issues could be avoided. I have been working in the hospitality industry for more than a decade. I know what to expect with guest room conditions, especially if it is occupied by groups of guests with families.

It’s very clear that management is taking advantage of the pandemic and taking workers for granted! We aren’t given any consideration in the decisions they are making. If we, the Union, hadn’t taken any action, eliminating daily room cleaning would become the new standard in the hospitality industry. If this happens, it will leave behind many housekeepers who will be permanently laid off. Working housekeepers will have extra workload, pain, and agony. This will be an economic pain for the community and the government.

Summer is over: the peak season of the year! And many housekeepers like me have been put back on on-call status. I haven’t been back to work yet since August 24. We have to live with uncertainties again, knowing there is no assurance of our job security. If there is daily room cleaning, more workers will be called to work.

Nothing really is perfect in this world. It is like you have to choose: work to death, or starve to death? Do we really need to choose? Can’t we just work in a fair working environment, and everybody will have peace and harmony? Workers are motivated to go to work for our families, our employer, and our coworkers. Our workplace is our second home, and we are one big ohana, wherein nobody should be left behind. Bringing back daily room cleaning would help us take care of ourselves, our guests, and our coworkers.

‘Stressed out’ Kaiser healthcare workers say they’re pushed to the brink and need relief

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Maui healthcare workers who are in the middle of negotiations with Kaiser Permanente claim they are overworked and underpaid. (read more)