The largest healthcare strike in U.S. history entered its second day with more than 75,000 Kaiser union workers on strike.

These striking employees are based in California, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon.

They are represented by a coalition of unions that constitute 40% of Kaiser Permanente’s workforce.

An additional 200 workers from Virginia and Washington, D.C., also joined the strike for a single day on Wednesday.

The strike is scheduled to conclude later in the week on Saturday morning.

However, the coalition has announced plans for a more extended strike come November.

The extension to November will be based on if a new employment contract is not reached by then.

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Agreement with healthcare workers

While there have been some tentative agreements reached in bargaining, negotiations between the coalition and Kaiser did not bear fruit.

The union did, however, agree to across-the-board wage increases for the first time during the ongoing negotiations.

The union coalition is pushing for higher pay and several other benefits, including measures to address a chronic staff shortage.

Worker shortage has left workers overworked and burnt out, particularly in the aftermath of the covid pandemic.

The striking employees come from various roles within the workers union, including nursing staff, dietary workers, receptionists, lab technicians, and pharmacists.

Key among concerns raised by workers on strike is the shortage of staff which has affected the quality of the working environment.

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Challenges in American hospitals

Ju-Anna Isaiah, a ward clerk for the union who is also taking part in the strike in Los Angeles is witness to this.

Anna mentioned that due to the lack of new hires, she is often the only person in her unit.

Her work is on planning patients’ rooms after surgery, including arranging beds for patients in intensive care.

Consequently, she highlighted the challenges faced when operating rooms are filled to capacity due to the inability to move patients into the recovery unit.

In brief, the workers union has voiced concerns about current staffing levels being unsafe.

Consequently this has led to dangerous patient wait times which could mean the difference between life and death.

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