Kaiser Permanente employees vote to authorize strike over unfair labor practices

BALTIMORE - Hundreds of Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers in Maryland and thousands nationwide voted to authorize a strike over unfair labor practices. It could happen as soon as October 1st.

The battle has been ongoing since April.

Both sides are hoping to come to an agreement, with two bargaining sessions set for the end of this week.  But if neither decides to budge, we could be looking at a major strike.

"We know we cannot continue going forward. And we cannot continue earning the wages that we're earning now. And survive. We're just burning out too many of our workers, and too many are leaving," said Linda Bridges, President of Office and Professionals International Union.

She says it's essential that healthcare workers have the resources they need to adequately serve patients and themselves, yet many are scraping by just to make ends meet.

Workers are demanding Kaiser address a list of concerns, accusing the company of cutting bonuses, failing to protect employees against subcontracting, and offering wages that fail to keep pace with inflation.

Kaiser officials issued a statement saying their "priority is to reach an agreement that ensures we can continue to provide market-competitive pay and outstanding benefits. We are confident we'll reach an agreement before the national agreement expires."

Negotiations are set for this Thursday and Friday.

Both parties need to reach an agreement before their current contract expires at the end of the month, or a national strike could begin as soon as October 1st.

Editor's note 9/26: This article has been updated to reflect that there are hundreds of Kaiser Permanente workers in Maryland, who voted to authorize a strike, not thousands.