Kaiser Workers Launch Statewide Pickets to Protest Job-Cut Plan
Labor Desk
August 21, 2009
Oakland/Pasadena - Hundreds of SEIU-UHW health care workers held simultaneous rallies at Kaiser Permanente´s Regional Offices in Oakland and Pasadena, which culminated in workers providing management with notice of their intent to picket at Kaiser hospitals and clinics across California to protest their proposal to eliminate thousands of unionized positions.
Kaiser workers will kick-off the informational pickets at Kaiser facilities in Walnut Creek and Sunset on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, followed by pickets at Santa Clara and Panorama City on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. Pickets will continue every Tuesday and Thursday at different Kaiser facilities across the state throughout the month of September.
When the workers met with Kaiser Permanente management, they delivered the following statement:
"We are here today to deliver two messages.
"The first: This is our formal notification that we intend to hold informational picketing at Kaiser healthcare facilities across California in the coming weeks. We take this action to protest management´s decision to individually notify thousands of our fellow SEIU-UHW members that you intend to take them out of their current positions and potentially even force them to leave Kaiser. Management has several options available to achieve its corporate goals without this drastic action – including using the voluntary separation incentive program that our union negotiated with you.
"The second message: we have deep concerns that Kaiser management´s recent actions undermine the principles of cooperation, communication and shared commitment that our Labor Management Partnership is based upon and that is central to ensuring that our members can continue to deliver the highest quality of care to our patients. Management´s recent announcement that Kaiser had earned $620 million in the second quarter should have been good news for all of us. But by sending out individual notices just days afterward, you have alarmed many of our members. Additionally, we have yet to see how you are applying position cuts across all levels of the organization, including management.
"It is now up to you to take tangible steps to regain our trust and work cooperatively for the future. We hereby submit our 10-day notices and will conduct our first picket on the September 1, 2009 at Kaiser Walnut Creek and Kaiser Sunset, followed two days later by an event at Kaiser Santa Clara and Kaiser Panorama City.
Kaiser workers will kick-off the informational pickets at Kaiser facilities in Walnut Creek and Sunset on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, followed by pickets at Santa Clara and Panorama City on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. Pickets will continue every Tuesday and Thursday at different Kaiser facilities across the state throughout the month of September.
When the workers met with Kaiser Permanente management, they delivered the following statement:
"We are here today to deliver two messages.
"The first: This is our formal notification that we intend to hold informational picketing at Kaiser healthcare facilities across California in the coming weeks. We take this action to protest management´s decision to individually notify thousands of our fellow SEIU-UHW members that you intend to take them out of their current positions and potentially even force them to leave Kaiser. Management has several options available to achieve its corporate goals without this drastic action – including using the voluntary separation incentive program that our union negotiated with you.
"The second message: we have deep concerns that Kaiser management´s recent actions undermine the principles of cooperation, communication and shared commitment that our Labor Management Partnership is based upon and that is central to ensuring that our members can continue to deliver the highest quality of care to our patients. Management´s recent announcement that Kaiser had earned $620 million in the second quarter should have been good news for all of us. But by sending out individual notices just days afterward, you have alarmed many of our members. Additionally, we have yet to see how you are applying position cuts across all levels of the organization, including management.
"It is now up to you to take tangible steps to regain our trust and work cooperatively for the future. We hereby submit our 10-day notices and will conduct our first picket on the September 1, 2009 at Kaiser Walnut Creek and Kaiser Sunset, followed two days later by an event at Kaiser Santa Clara and Kaiser Panorama City.
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