""When we bargained in 2021, it was basically right before inflation really went crazy," Gina R. Mann, a medical laboratory scientist at Kaiser Sunnyside, said. "So what were modest, across-the-board wage increases have actually pulled us very far behind our competitors." The result, Mann said, is that wages for Kaiser workers over the lifetime of their now-expired contract failed to keep up with major increases in the cost of living-an issue exacerbated by the fact that many workers received reduced raises during the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Kaiser workers are, therefore, attempting to address that issue in the first year of their next contract. The union has proposed a 12 percent wage increase in the first year of their new contract and an overall 25 percent wage increase over the contract's four years, while Kaiser has countered with an offer of a 6.5 percent wage increase in the contract's first year and a 21.5 percent wage increase over its lifetime."
Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington face a potential five-day strike next Tuesday if no contract agreement is reached. The Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals represents about 4,000 Kaiser employees, and 97 percent of voting members authorized a strike before the labor contract expired at the end of September. These workers are part of nearly 48,000 healthcare employees across multiple states in the Alliance of Health Care Unions with strike authorizations beginning October 14. Wages under the expired contract did not keep pace with cost-of-living increases, worsened by reduced raises during the COVID-19 pandemic. The union seeks a 12 percent first-year increase and 25 percent over four years; Kaiser offered 6.5 percent first-year and 21.5 percent total.
Read at Portland Mercury
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