Damian Dovarganes Associated Press “This is the largest strike by health care workers in U.S. history,” she said, according to the coalition of unions . Pictured are healthcare workers protesting outside a Kaiser Permanente medical center in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
More than 75,000 employees of Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest hospital systems in the United States, began a three-day strike Wednesday to demand better working conditions.
It must be of the most significant movement to shake up health services in the country, said the coalition of unions which called this strike in California, Oregon, Virginia and Washington in particular, to denounce “unfair labor practices “.
The movement has already started on the east coast and is expected to spread later today to the west coast, where most of the group's workforce is based.
“This is a difficult decision and we know it requires sacrifice from all of us, but Kaiser executives continue to negotiate in bad faith on the solutions we urgently need to resolve the shortage crisis. Kaiser staff and the safety and well-being of our patients and employees are at stake,” the coalition recently said.
“This is the largest industrial employee strike in the health in American history,” she said. And if the workers' demands are not met, a new strike could be organized in November, she warned.
The unions are demanding, among other things, wage increases and protections against the outsourcing of services.
Kaiser Permanente said it was “disappointed” by the strike call and said it plans to keep its medical centers open during the strike. Longer waiting times are to be expected, however, the group said.