A "militant" healthcare union put patients at risk during a weeklong walkout at one of America’s largest healthcare providers, according to company officials.
The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) has staged a series of strikes at Kaiser Permanente’s west coast facilities, accusing the company of failing to address mental health needs adequately. Thousands of healthcare workers in California and Hawaii participated in a strike from Jan. 12 to Jan. 19. Kaiser officials say that NUHW is putting its bargaining interests ahead of the health of patients.
"Union tactics designed to put our patients at risk are not productive," John Nelson, Kaiser’s vice president of government relations, said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.
The union, which did not respond to requests for comment, contests that Kaiser has failed to hire enough personnel in the mental health division leading to increased waiting times for patients. The company was forced to pay a $4 million fine after running afoul of stringent California mental health regulations in 2013. Kaiser officials have said that NUHW is using the strike to boost its membership.
"NUHW has spent the last several years publicly attacking our mental health services, while at the same time resisting important steps we are taking to enhance mental health care for our patients," Nelson said in a Jan. 10 release. "Although NUHW has been using intimidation and obstructionism to try to achieve its goals, we will not let that stop us from continuing to make progress on addressing the national challenge facing all mental health care providers."
NUHW has a combative history. It was formed in 2009 by "militant" labor organizers that broke away from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against NUWH after discovering that the fledgling union stole information from SEIU.
NUHW has spent the last several years trying to poach members from SEIU with mixed results. It lost two NLRB elections in 2011 and 2013 that would have converted 45,000 Kaiser Permanente workers from SEIU to NUHW.
Kaiser has extensive experience working with labor unions. About 70 percent of its 175,000 workforce are union members, and the company bargains with nearly 30 separate unions. NUHW is the only group that has failed to secure a contract for its 5,000 members, despite years of negotiation. The strike began after the union abandoned federal mediation, a decision Kaiser called "entirely unnecessary and counterproductive."
Kaiser was able to sign contracts with two separate labor unions during the seven-day walkout, including an agreement with the California Nurses Association—a union with which the NUHW is affiliated.
"While these agreements need to be ratified by the unions’ membership, the very fact that we achieved these agreements demonstrates Kaiser Permanente’s unparalleled and successful 70-year history of engaging constructively with the labor unions that represent our employees," Nelson said in a Jan. 19 release. "These two agreements are also a clear and timely reminder to NUHW that differences are best resolved at the bargaining table, not on a picket line."
Nelson said that if the NUHW is truly interested in brokering a deal for its members and improving mental healthcare, it should negotiate in good faith with Kaiser, as other labor outfits do.
"We have decades of experience successfully resolving issues at the bargaining table, to the benefit of all involved," Nelson said. "That’s what should have happened here."