N. California Kaiser Nurses Set to Strike

Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California registered nurses are scheduled to begin a two-day strike today following the breakdown of negotiations for a new contract. About 7,500 members of the California Nurses Assn. are expected to walk off the job at 47 Kaiser hospitals and clinics to protest management demands for wage and benefit concessions. Oakland-based Kaiser, the nation’s largest nonprofit health maintenance organization, said it is carrying out a plan to provide essential care to its 2.6 million Northern California members during the walkout. The nurses’ contract expired Jan. 30, and the two sides have been bargaining intermittently ever since. Kaiser says its proposals reflect increasing competition in the health-care industry. The union contends that Kaiser is substituting lower-trained personnel for RNs; it is demanding that its members have a voice in setting staffing levels.