Kaiser, Union Reach a Tentative Settlement
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center reached a tentative settlement with the union representing 9,500 of its Southern California employees early Tuesday morning, averting a strike.
Tom Ramsay, communications director of Service Employees International Local 399, which represents Kaiser workers, said Tuesday night that 81% of the employees casting ballots voted to approve the new contract. He said 3,573 employees voted yes and 836 voted no.
The new contract includes a three-year wage freeze, Ramsay said. Instead of pay raises, full-time employees will get lump sum payments of $600 in the first year of the agreement, $700 in the second year and $800 in the third year. Part-time employees will get lump sum increases of $300, $350 and $400 in each of the three years.
Ramsay said the union’s principal accomplishment in bargaining was fighting off attempts by Kaiser to obtain several concessions from the union, primarily the establishment of a two-tier wage system.
“It was a big victory for us on the two-tier,” Ramsay said.
Late last year after a seven-week strike, a large Service Employees local in Northern California agreed to a Kaiser plan for a geographically based two-tier system in which newly hired workers in selected areas--including Napa, Sacramento, Vallejo and Santa Rosa--are paid less than newly hired workers in Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.
Nation’s Largest HMO
Kaiser, the nation’s oldest and largest health maintenance organization, said it needs to lower its labor costs in areas where competition for the health care dollar is most intense.
In the Southern California negotiations, the union maintained that there are no regional wage differentials that justify the two-tier system in Southern California. Employees at Kaiser facilities in Anaheim, Bellflower, Harbor City, Los Angeles, Panorama City, West Los Angeles and Woodland Hills were represented in the talks.
Janice Seib, a Kaiser spokeswoman, would not comment on the details of the pact. She said, however, “The overall agreement reflects the need to contain costs.
“There’s a need for belt-tightening all the way around, and the union is showing they’re recognizing it,” Seib added.
She said cost-containment was Kaiser’s primary goal in the negotiations. Kaiser, which has about 1.8 million members in Southern California, is facing increasing competition, Seib said.
Nonetheless, union spokesman Ramsay said Kaiser is still far and away the largest health maintenance organization in the area, with about 50% of all HMO enrollees in Southern California.
Ramsay said Kaiser went into the negotiations attempting to establish a wage rate for new employees that would be 25% lower than current starting wages. The union resisted that but agreed to a system in which it would take longer for new employees to reach the top pay rungs, he said.
From $8.44 to $19.48 an Hour
Kaiser wages range from $8.44 an hour for a dishwasher to $19.48 an hour for a heart pump technician. The Service Employees represent a variety of health care support personnel, including licensed vocational nurses, food service workers, clerical employees and technicians.
Ramsay said the union secured “some good language,” which restricts Kaiser’s right to subcontract work, thus protecting current employees’ jobs.
On the other hand, part-time employees hired in the future will have to work 20 hours a week to qualify for medical and dental insurance, compared to 16 hours a week for part-time employees hired previously.
Meanwhile, Service Employees Local 535, which represents 200 Red Cross nurses in Los Angeles and Orange counties, held a last-ditch negotiating session Tuesday evening, facing the possibility of a strike that could start today.
Teresa Conrow, a spokeswoman for Local 535, said the major issues blocking renewal of the collective-bargaining agreement were blood donor safety, working conditions and wages.
She said that traditionally there had been one nurse for every three blood donors but that Red Cross was attempting to increase the ratio to one nurse for every four donors. She said such a change would be potentially dangerous to donors.
A registered nurse with three years’ experience at Red Cross receives $2,041 a month; licensed vocational nurses receive $1,570 a month.
Gerry Sohle, a public relations representative for Red Cross, declined to comment on the talks. “We have a contract. Let’s wait to see what happens tomorrow.”
