LOS ANGELES — Nearly 2,400 mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities are on strike Thursday amid contract talks and allegations of a “broken” system of care, while Kaiser officials say the union has been “slow walking” the negotiation process and planned to strike before labor talks even began.
What You Need To Know
- Mental health professionals, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, are picketing Thursday at five locations
- The union says shortages are still persistent in Southern California, insisting Kaiser has about one therapist for every 3,000 Kaiser members, compared to one per 2,000 in Northern California
- The union’s contract with Kaiser expired Sept. 30
- The labor dispute comes one year after Kaiser reached a $50 million settlement with state regulators who said the health care giant’s mental health care system lacked adequate staffing that caused lapses in access to care for patients
Mental health professionals, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, will picket from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the following locations:
- Bakersfield Kaiser Mental Health Offices, 4900 California Ave., Bakersfield
- San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
- Fontana Medical Center, 9961 Sierra Ave., Fontana
- Anaheim Medical Center, 3440 East La Palma Ave., Anaheim
- West Los Angeles Medical Center, 6041 Cadillac Ave., Los Angeles
There will be lunchtime rallies with community and elected officials at all five sites.
“This is about equity for mental health care,” Jessica Rentz, a Kaiser therapist in Fontana, said in a statement released by the National Union of Healthcare Workers. “We want to be with our patients, not on a picket line, but we can’t keep working 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 know our patients need.”…