Kaiser Permanente said it is committed to finding "workable solutions" to its labor problems as the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history entered a second day.
"Together, we have faced the toughest challenges over the past 3 years," management said in a statement published Wednesday evening, referencing the changes to the medical system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Kaiser Permanente, our industry, and our employees are now operating in a new cultural, labor, and post-pandemic environment that we are all working hard to understand."
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Over 75,000 healthcare workers in California, Washington state, Oregon, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., committed to a three-day strike action after contract negotiations failed to produce a new agreement before the beginning of October.
The statement from management says that they and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions have reached "a number of tentative agreements in bargaining," including across-the-board pay raises over the next four years along with improved retirement benefits and tuition assistance.
Management has also agreed to increase the minimum wage to $21 per hour across all of its states of operation and $23 per hour in California, the epicenter of the calls for striking.
Caroline Lucas, a spokeswoman for the coalition, noted in a statement on Wednesday, however, that "frontline healthcare workers are awaiting a meaningful response from Kaiser executives" on central priorities, including increasing the number of workers and outsourcing protections.
Kaiser workers maintain that staffing shortages create a dangerous environment for patients.
More than 5 million workers across the healthcare system left their jobs between 2021 and 2022 during what some analysts call the Great Resignation. Nearly 66% of healthcare workers report excessive burnout.
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"On the same day that the Coalition strikes began, we’re pleased to confirm that we’ve met our goal of hiring 10,000 new Coalition-represented employees by year-end," Kaiser noted in its response to the beginning of the strike. "We are committed to addressing every area of staffing that is still challenging."
The walkout is scheduled to end on Saturday at 6 a.m. The coalition maintains that there will be further strikes in November if contract negotiations continue to stall.