Sacramento Kaiser health care workers picket amid contract negotiations

Updated 6:58 p.m.

As bargaining on a new contract continues, over 100 unionized health care workers took to the street in Sacramento Monday, picketing outside the Kaiser Permanente hospital and medical center on Morse Avenue in the Arden-Arcade area.

The action helped kick off a statewide picketing campaign that is slated to be held at facilities across California this week. All facilities will be open and operational during the events.

At issue is a new contract for health care workers — including medical assistants, respiratory therapists, lab assistants and secretaries — which is three months away from expiring. The major issue for their union, SEIU-UHW, is a persistent staffing shortage, which they characterize as “unsafe.”

“It's bad,” said Jvonne Christian, a patient care technician with over 21 years at Kaiser. “Workers are exhausted. They're burnt out. It's sad to say, like some people are just basically like zombies. And we're just here because we need to survive.”

Health care workers picket on the sidewalk across from the Kaiser Permanente hospital and medical center on Morse Avenue in the Arden-Arcade area on July 25, 2023.Kate Wolffe / CapRadio

Kaiser is bargaining with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents over 85,000 workers in mostly Western states. In April, the two entities agreed Kaiser would hire 10,000 new people for union jobs in 2023, according to a statement from Kaiser. The nonprofit added it is making “great progress toward achieving that goal.”

But Christian said she doesn’t think that will be enough. 

“It'll make a little difference, but it’s not really putting a dent in it," she said. "Because before the pandemic, we were already short staffed, but during the pandemic, we got even worse.”

Jeffrey Melara is a worker in the appointment advice call center. He also is a Spanish language interpreter for doctors and nurses. He pinpoints the 2008 recession as the moment he noticed the staffing shortage, when Kaiser froze hiring for some positions.

“At the end of it, around 2012, is when it really started being a big, big problem,” he said.

Now, he said when someone calls, it’s almost impossible to get them an appointment. Plus, the wait times to speak to a nurse exceed 30 minutes. 

“They make billions in profits. They pay their CEOs millions,” Melara said. “And we need them to fix the sort of crisis that we're experiencing. They can and should do better.”

Kaiser reported record-breaking profit during the pandemic, seeing $8.1 billion in net income in 2021. The organization lost billions in 2022, but they’ve been back on an upward trajectory this year. 

For its part, Kaiser characterized the picketing as “an attempt to create bargaining leverage,” during the contract negotiation.  

“Our priority is to reach an agreement that ensures we can continue to provide market-competitive pay and outstanding benefits,” the company wrote in a statement.

Meanwhile, the health care giant added it’s facing challenges including a labor shortage, inflation, rising costs for health care, and increased demand, among other things.

More picketing is expected in the Sacramento region Wednesday at the Roseville Medical Center, and Thursday in Woodland Hills and South Sacramento. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that contract negotiations are ongoing.