Category Archives: Collective Bargaining

New Jersey hospital to suspend healthcare benefits from striking nurses

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hr/new-jersey-hospital-to-suspend-healthcare-benefits-from-striking-nurses.html?origin=BHRE&utm_source=BHRE&utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter&oly_enc_id=2893H2397267F7G

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., said it plans to temporarily cut off healthcare benefits for striking union workers, effective Sept. 1.

Hospital spokesperson Wendy Gottsegen described the move as unfortunate.

“We have said all along that no one benefits from a strike — least of all our nurses. We hope the union considers the impact a prolonged strike is having on our nurses and their families,” Ms. Gottsegen said in an Aug. 28 news release shared with Becker’s. “As of Sept. 1, RWJUH nurses must pay for their health benefits through COBRA. This hardship, in addition to the loss of wages throughout the strike, is very unfortunate and has been openly communicated to the union and the striking nurses since prior to the walkout on Aug. 4.”

The ongoing strike involves the United Steelworkers Local 4-200, which represents about 1,700 nurses at the facility.

Union members voted to authorize a strike in July. The union and hospital have been negotiating a new agreement for months, with the last bargaining session occurring Aug. 16.

During negotiations, the union has said it seeks a contract that provides safe staffing standards, living wages and quality, affordable healthcare.

Local 4-200 President Judy Danella, RN, said in a previous union release, “Our members remain deeply committed to our patients. However, we must address urgent concerns, like staffing. We need enough nurses on each shift, on each floor, so we can devote more time to each patient and keep ourselves safe on the job.”

Several nurses told TAPinto New Brunswick last week that they began preparing for the current situation ahead of the strike, taking overtime shifts and saving as much money as possible. Others told the publication they are taking part-time jobs or temporary employment elsewhere in the nursing field or adjacent roles.

“I think it’s important that you [remember] you might not get the job you want to do at that moment, but people have to do what they have to do to get it done,” Jessica Newcomb, RN, told TAPinto New Brunswick.

Meanwhile, the hospital has contracted with an agency to hire replacement nurses during the strike. 

“As always, our top priority is to our patients. RWJUH is open, fully operational and completely staffed, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver the highest quality and always-safe patient care,” Ms. Gottsegen said.

As of Aug. 28, no further dates for negotiations were scheduled by mediators.

COVID-fatigued health workers are mobilizing

Posted on by • Posted in Collective Bargaining, Employee Complaint, Employee Satisfaction, Employee Staffing, Employee Staffing Shortage, Health Policy, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Labor Activism, Labor Organizing, Labor Union, Nurse Staffing Ratios • Leave a comment

https://www.axios.com/2022/06/02/health-care-workers-unions-covid-fatigue

Health care workers nationwide are organizing and pushing for workplace changes like better pay or more favorable staffing ratios after waves of pandemic-fueled burnout and frustration.

Why it matters: COVID-19 and its aftereffects triggered an exodus of health care workers. Those who stayed are demanding more from health systems that claim to be reaching their own breaking points.

  • “The pandemic exacerbated a crisis that was already there,” Michelle Boyle, a Pittsburgh nurse told Axios. “It went from being a crisis to being a catastrophic freefall in staffing.”

Driving the news: About 1,400 resident physicians in public Los Angeles County hospitals have authorized a strike if their demands for pay parity with other local facilities aren’t met in contract negotiations this week.

  • Nurses demonstrated across Pennsylvania in early May, protesting one state lawmaker’s inaction on legislation that would have set nurse-to-patient ratios.
  • A fight is brewing in Minnesota as contracts covering 15,000 nurses in several hospital systems are expiring.
  • Some 2,000 resident physicians and interns at Stanford University and the University of Vermont Medical Center joined an affiliate of the SEIU for medical workers that claims more than 20,000 members nationwide.
  • In North Carolina, where union membership is low, staff at Mission Health in Asheville voted to unionize largely over staffing concerns.

Less than half of the of nearly 12,000 nurses polled by the American Nurses Association last year believe their employer cares about their concerns, and 52% of those surveyed said they intend to leave their jobs or are considering doing so.

The other side: Hospital operators generally oppose unionization efforts, as well as mandated staffing ratios.

  • “The last thing we need is requirements set by somebody in Washington as to exactly how many nurses ought to be providing service at any given time,” said Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. “That ought to be a local decision based on the need in the hospital at the time.”
  • The American Organization for Nursing Leadership, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, also opposes staffing ratios.
  • The industry says decisions on staffing and workplace rules are best left to local executives who need to be flexible to meet shifting demand for care.
  • “You’re basically taking away the flexibility of those on the scene to determine what it takes to provide the needed patient care,” Kahn said.

Go deeper: The pandemic drove up labor costs significantly for hospitals that were forced to pay travel nurses to fill workforce gaps during COVID surges.

  • April marked the fourth month in a row this year that major hospitals and health care systems reported negative margins, a Kaufman Hall report found. And executives say things could worsen amid inflation and stubborn supply chain woes.

And yet, some big hospital chains like Tenet reported strong earnings in the first quarter.

Between the lines: California is the only state to have set staffing ratios for nurses, but hospital unions in other states have fought for similar requirements in their contracts.

  • In California, every nurse on a general hospital floor has no more than five patients to care for at a time; nurses in ICUs should care for no more than two patients.
  • Nurses want look-alike standards in states like Pennsylvania, where only some hospitals have staffing ratios, saying short-staffing threatens patients’ well-being.

What we’re watching: While many legislative proposals failed this year, unions representing health care workers say their message is getting across.

  • Unions in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington state are redoubling efforts for staffing ratio legislation modeled on California’s.
  • In New York, nurses passed a law that took effect in January mandating staffing committees at hospitals.

The bottom line: The labor tension is a sobering coda to a health crisis that’s stretched health systems and workers alike in unprecedented ways.

“What you’re seeing is nurses finally saying enough is enough and this system is broken and we need it to be fixed,” said Denelle Korin, a nurse alliance coordinator with Nurses of Pennsylvania.

Physician residents and fellows unionize at two major California health systems

Posted on by • Posted in Collective Bargaining, Employee Benefits, Employee Compensation, Employee Engagement, Employee Expectations, Employee Overtime, Employee Raise, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Physician Residents, Physician Workforce, Physician's Labor Union, Residency Programs, Resident, Talent Management • Leave a comment

Seeking stronger workplace protections, physician residents and fellows at both Stanford Health Care and the University of Southern California’s (USC) Keck School of Medicine have voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, a chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Despite being frontline healthcare workers, most Stanford residents were excluded from the first round of the health system’s COVID vaccine rollout in December 2020. The system ultimately revised its plan to include residents, but the delay damaged Stanford’s relationship with residents, adding momentum to the unionization movement. Meanwhile, Keck’s residents unanimously voted in favor of joining the union, aiming for higher compensation and greater workplace representation.

The Gist: While nurses and other healthcare workers in California, as in many other parts of the country, have been increasingly banding together for higher pay and better working conditions, physician residents and fellows contemplating unionization is a newer trend. 

Physicians-in-training have historically accepted long work hours and low pay as a rite of passage, and have shied away from organizing. But pandemic working conditions, the growing trend of physician employment, and generational shifts in the physician workforce have changed the profession in a multitude of ways. 

Health systems and training programs must actively engage in understanding and supporting the needs of younger doctors, who will soon comprise a majority of the physician workforce.

Stanford physicians vote to join union

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hr/stanford-physicians-form-union.html?utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter

Resident and fellow physicians at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care have voted in favor of representation by the Committee of Interns and Residents, according to a May 3 news release.

Of the nearly 1,050 ballots counted, 835 were in favor of representation, the National Labor Relations Board website showed. 

The vote comes after resident physicians led a protest in December 2020 against Stanford’s COVID-19 vaccination plan that excluded house staff from the initial round of shots. The health system immediately revised the plan to prioritize resident physicians.

In February, physicians also demanded the health system voluntarily recognize the Committee of Interns and Residents as their exclusive representative for collective bargaining.

Now the union said its members are looking forward to negotiations. 

“Our doctors are united by our desire to provide the best possible patient care and strong worker protections,” said Ben Solomon, MD, a pediatric resident physician, said in the release. “One thing the pandemic has made abundantly clear, in addition to the widespread equity issues in our healthcare system, is that our needs as physicians cannot be separated from those of our patients.”

The National Labor Relations Board must certify the election results before they are final. Stanford does not plan to challenge the results, the health system said in a statement shared with Becker’s on May 3.

“As we begin the collective bargaining process, our goal remains unchanged: providing our residents and fellows with a world-class training experience,” Stanford said. “We will bring this same focus to negotiations as we strive to support their development as physician leaders.”

The Committee of Interns and Residents is a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union. The union represents more than 20,000 resident physicians and fellows, including University of Massachusetts physicians in training, who unionized in March 2021. 

Stanford, Packard nurses greenlight strike

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hr/stanford-packard-nurses-greenlight-strike.html?utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter

Thousands of nurses at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children’s hospitals in Palo Alto, Calif., have authorized the union representing them to call a strike. 

In an April 8 news release, the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement said more than 4,500 nurses at Stanford and Packard, or 93 percent of all nurses eligible, voted in favor of strike authorization. They are calling on hospital management to adequately address staffing, citing consistent overtime and nurses’ complaints of inadequate resources, training or staff. They also seek improved access to mental health counseling, as well as competitive wages and benefits.

“The decision by members to overwhelmingly authorize a strike shows that we are fed up with the status quo of working conditions at the hospitals,” Colleen Borges, union president and a nurse in the pediatric oncology department, said in the release. “We need contracts that allow us to care for ourselves and our families so we can continue providing world-class care.”

Nurses authorized the strike after bargaining for the last 13 weeks and are working without contracts. The vote does not mean a strike will occur, but it gives the union the ability to issue an official strike notice. 

In a statement shared with Becker’s, Stanford expressed its support for negotiations rather than a strike.

“We are committed, through good faith bargaining, to reach agreement on new contracts that provide nurses a highly competitive compensation package, along with proposals that further our commitment to enhancing staffing and wellness benefits for nurses,” the statement said.

The hospital also said it is taking the steps to prepare for the possibility of a strike, while hoping a strike is averted.

“Given the progress we have made by working constructively with the union, we should be able to reach agreements that will allow us to continue to attract and retain the high caliber of nurses who so meaningfully contribute to our hospitals’ reputation for excellence,” the statement read. 

Hartford HealthCare nurses begin strike

Posted on by • Posted in Collective Bargaining, Coronavirus, Employee Benefits, Employee Compensation, Employee Protections, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Labor Relations, Labor Strike, Labor Union, Nurses, Nurses Union, Pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Uncategorized • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hr/hartford-healthcare-nurses-begin-strike.html?utm_medium=email

Nurses strike begins at Backus Hospital in Norwich - Hartford Courant

Registered nurses at Hartford HealthCare’s Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn., are launching a two-day strike Oct. 13 over alleged unfair labor practices, according to the union that represents them.

Backus Federation of Nurses, AFT Local 5149, which represents approximately 415 registered nurses at Backus Hospital and its partner medical facilities, and the hospital have been negotiating since June to resolve contract issues around patient care, workplace safety, and recruitment and retention, according to the union.

AFT Local says members want a fair contract that protects workers and patients, provides better access to personal protective equipment and allows the hospital to retain skilled registered nurses. However, the union contends the hospital has failed to bargain for a fair contract.

“We’d rather be at the bedside caring for our patients and hope a mutual resolution can be reached; but we cannot allow unfair labor practices to stand,” union President Sherri Dayton, RN, said in a statement shared earlier this month with Becker’s Hospital Review. “That’s why we marched on Hartford HealthCare’s executives to announce that we’re on strike if a settlement is not reached by Oct. 13.”

Nurses authorized a strike in September over these issues and issued a strike notice on Oct. 9.

Backus Hospital President Donna Handley, BSN, RN, said in a statement that the hospital has tried to avoid a strike and, over 23 bargaining sessions and using federal mediators, has continually addressed issues such as personal protective equipment, staffing and additional accommodations for breastfeeding.

The hospital’s offer includes wage increases for registered nurses amounting to 12.5 percent over three years, additional paid time off for 82 percent of registered nurses, and a 2 percent reduction to the cost of healthcare premiums.

Ms. Handley said the hospital has also offered to retain daily overtime for registered nurses and provided staff with additional paid time off during the pandemic and other support.

“In all of these and other ways, Backus Hospital has shown that we respect our nurses, we are prepared to find common ground, and we want to reach agreement on a fair contract,” she said. “The union, unfortunately, is prepared to strike, causing an unprecedented degree of disruption during an unprecedented health crisis.”

She said Backus Hospital will remain open during the strike and programs and services will remain accessible to community members.

Striking nurses at Illinois hospital return to work without new contract

Posted on by • Posted in Collective Bargaining, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Labor Relations, Labor Spend Management, Labor Strike, Labor Union, Lawsuit, Nurses, Nurses Union, Public Safety, Temporary Restraining Order • Leave a comment

https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/university-illinois-nurses-back-to-work-after-strike/585631/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202020-09-22%20Healthcare%20Dive%20%5Bissue:29794%5D&utm_term=Healthcare%20Dive

Dive Brief:

  • Nurses at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago returned to work Monday following a weeklong strike over their new contract. The two sides were unable to reach an agreement despite negotiations “that ran well into the evening” each night of the strike and planned to resume talks Monday.
  • They made some progress on key issues. The hospital agreed to hire more than 200 nurses to quell staff-to-patient ratio concerns at the forefront of the strike, according to the Illinois Nurses Association. UIH also proposed slight wage increases for nurses opposed to previously offered freezes, though the union countered with larger increases, INA said.
  • UIH agreed that it’s closer to making a deal on the contract despite not reaching a tentative agreement. Nurses will report to work under the existing terms of their past contract until a new deal is reached.

Dive Insight:

Nurse staffing levels have been an issue since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the crisis has accelerated those concerns, along with labor activity, as clinicians on the front lines have faced grueling conditions.

Before the strike began, UIH said staff-patient ratios are too rigid and remove flexibility, instead favoring acuity-based models focused on “obtaining the right nurse at the right time for each patient.”

But it amended that proposal last week, now agreeing to hire 200 nurses “to improve the staffing ratio, addressing the most important issue the nurses insisted on as a primary reason to strike,” according to INA.

Illinois has a Safe Patient Limits bill before its legislature that would spell out the maximum number of patients who may be assigned to a registered nurse in specified situations. HB 2604 was introduced in February 2019 and is currently before the House rules committee, though it has not received a full vote.

On Sept. 11, the day before the UIH strike began, a judge granted a temporary restraining order forbidding nurses in certain critical care units from going on strike.

The lawsuit, filed by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, claimed a work stoppage among those nurses would endanger public safety due to the unique nature of the services provided in the units, specialized needs of patients they serve and lack of qualified substitutes to perform nurses’ duties.

About 525 nurses out of 1,400 represented by INA were barred from striking at UIH, according to the union.

Two days after UIH nurses walked off the job, service workers at the university main campus, hospital and various other facilities also went on strike.

Some 4,000 clerical, professional, technical, service and maintenance workers represented by Service Employees International Union 73 went on strike Sept. 14 over similar issues as the nurses, mainly staffing and pay.

The planned duration of the SEIU strike is unclear, though it’s been a week since it began.

“As UIC nurses return to work, we will continue our strike,” the union said in a statement. “We won’t quit until UIC respects us, protects us and pays us. Working through a pandemic and seeing our co-workers die has stiffened our resolve to fight for however long it takes to ensure the safety of all workers and those we serve.”

 

 

 

 

Amazon Is Hiring an Intelligence Analyst to Track ‘Labor Organizing Threats’

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Amazon, Collective Bargaining, Employee Protections, Hostile, Hostile Work Environment, Job Description, Labor Activism, Labor Organizing, Labor Organizing Threats, Labor Relations, Labor Union, Monopoly, Monopoly Behavior, Organized Labor, Smear Campaign, Threat, Threats, Worker Protection, Worker Rights, Workflow Environment, Workforce Strategy, Workplace Safety • Leave a comment

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qj4aqw/amazon-hiring-intelligence-analyst-to-track-labor-organizing-threats?fbclid=IwAR2HPsGNDFctpmNzBb_6Su9yof5SN_ke-E9cG0vHwgseLJw8UaQmarmGoPk

Amazon is looking to hire two people who can focus on keeping tabs on labor activists within the company.

Amazon is looking to hire two intelligence analysts to track “labor organizing threats” within the company.

The company recently posted two job listings for analysts that can keep an eye on sensitive and confidential topics “including labor organizing threats against the company.” Amazon is looking to hire an “Intelligence Analyst” and a “Sr Intelligence Analyst” for its Global Security Operations’ (GSO) Global Intelligence Program (GIP), the team that’s responsible for physical and corporate security operations such as insider threats and industrial espionage. 

The job ads list several kinds of threats, such as “protests, geopolitical crises, conflicts impacting operations,” but focuses on “organized labor” in particular, mentioning it three times in one of the listings. 

Amazon has historically been hostile to workers attempting to form a union or organize any kind of collective action. Last year, an Amazon spokesperson accused unions of exploiting Prime Day “to raise awareness to their cause” and increase membership dues. Earlier this year, the company fired Christian Smalls, a Black employee who led a protest at a fulfillment center in New York over Amazon’s inadequate safety measures in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. During a meeting with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, company executives discussed plans to smear Smalls calling him “not smart, or articulate.”  

These job listings show Amazon sees labor organizing as one of the biggest threats to its existence.

Do you work at Amazon, did you used to, or do you know anything else about the company? We’d love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, on Wickr at lorenzofb, OTR chat at lorenzofb@jabber.ccc.de, or email lorenzofb@vice.com.

After this story was published, Amazon deleted the job listings and company spokesperson Maria Boschetti said in an email that “the job post was not an accurate description of the role— it was made in error and has since been corrected.” The spokesperson did not respond to follow-up questions about the alleged mistake. The job listing, according to Amazon’s own job portal, had been up since January 6, 2020.

Dania Rajendra, the Director of the Athena Coalition, an alliance of dozens of grassroots labor groups that organize amazon workers, criticized the listing.

“Workers, especially Black workers, have been telling us all for months that Amazon is targeting them for speaking out. This job description is proof that Amazon intends to continue on this course,” Rajendra told Motherboard in a statement. “The public deserves to know whether Amazon will continue to fill these positions, even if they’re no longer publicly posted.”

On Monday, the Open Markets Institute, a nonprofit that studies monopolies, published a report on Amazon’s employee surveillance efforts, claiming that these practices “create a harsh and dehumanizing working environment that produces a constant state of fear, as well as physical and mental anguish.” 

After a week of the jobs being posted online, 71 people have applied to the Intelligence Analyst position, and 24 people to the Sr Intelligence Analyst job, according to Linkedin. The first job was posted in the Amazon Jobs portal in January, the second job on July 21, according to the company’s site.

UPDATE Sept. 1, 12:04 p.m. ET: Shortly after this story was published, Amazon removed the listings from its job portal.

 

 

 

 

California AG conditionally approves $350M sale of nonprofit to Prime Healthcare

Posted on by • Posted in Access & Quality of Healthcare, Asset Purchase Agreement, Bankruptcy, Collective Bargaining, Community, Community Benefit, Community Hospital, Financial Pressure, Financial Viability, Financially Distressed, For-Profit, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Labor Union, Market Consolidation, Market Power, Mergers & Acquisitions, State Attorney Generals (AG) • Leave a comment

https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/california-ag-conditionally-approves-350m-sale-st-francis-medical-center-prime-healthcare

Prime Healthcare, CEO Prem Reddy settle false-claims suit for $65M

Prime will acquire St. Francis for a net of $350 million, with a $200 million base cash price and $60 million for accounts receivable.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has conditionally approved Verity Health’s application to transfer ownership of St. Francis Medical Center to Prime Healthcare. The Attorney General’s decision follows an earlier decision by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Central District of California granting Verity’s request to reject the existing collective bargaining agreements which impose legacy cost structures that it said contributed to bankruptcy.

Becerra noted that his approval of the sale of St. Francis to Prime Healthcare “protect(s) access to care for the Los Angeles communities served” by St. Francis.

“The COVID-19 public health crisis has brought home the importance of having access to lifesaving hospital care nearby in our communities,” he said. “St. Francis Medical Center is not just an asset, it is an indispensable neighbor, it is the workers who serve the patients, and the doctors who save lives. We conditionally approve this sale to keep it that way.”

Prime Healthcare has built a reputation for saving financially distressed hospitals across the U.S., touting improved clinical quality. Healthgrades said Prime had hospitals named among the nation’s 100 best 53 times, and has been the recipient of several Patient Safety Excellence Awards.

The Attorney General’s office conducted an exhaustive review of the transaction for the past several months and carefully considered public input on the proposed transaction. The Attorney General’s approval includes conditions for the sale which Prime is currently reviewing. Pending a final ruling by the Bankruptcy Court, the transaction is expected to be completed this summer.

THE LARGER TREND

In early April, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the Asset Purchase Agreement for the sale of St. Francis Medical Center to Prime. Under the agreement, Prime will acquire St. Francis for a net consideration of over $350 million, including a $200 million base cash price and $60 million for accounts receivable. In addition, Prime has committed to invest $47 million in capital improvements and extend offers of employment to nearly all staff.

The court also recently granted Verity’s request to reject the existing collective bargaining agreements with two unions that represent associates at St. Francis Medical Center, SEIU and UNAC. The court noted that Prime Healthcare was the only party to submit a qualifying bid for St. Francis and that without rejecting the existing CBAs, “St. Francis would not continue to operate as a going concern, and all of the UNAC (and SEIU) represented employees would lose their jobs.”

The court also noted that Prime and Verity had made multiple efforts to negotiate in good faith with the unions, and the parties devoted “hundreds of hours to negotiations,” but ultimately were unable to agree on new CBAs. Further, the court determined that one of the reasons for the hospital’s bankruptcy was the “legacy cost structure imposed by the existing CBAs.”

It then staid that the proposals were rejected “without good cause” by the unions. Prime said it negotiated in good faith and proposed increasingly generous offers to UNAC and SEIU with wages far above its existing agreements at its Los Angeles-area hospitals. Prime’s latest offer to SEIU maintained existing wages for roughly 90% of SEIU members, and increased wages for some of them. Prime said these wages would be substantially higher than those recently voted by SEIU members at three of Prime’s Los Angeles hospitals.

ON THE RECORD

“Receiving conditional approval is an important step in ensuring Prime is able to preserve the St. Francis mission for the benefit of associates, members of the medical staff and most importantly the patients and Southeast Los Angeles community that has relied on St. Francis for 75 years,” said Rich Adcock, CEO of Verity Health.

“We are honored to be selected to continue the St. Francis legacy and are working to review the conditions and finalize the sale as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Sunny Bhatia, CEO, Region I and chief medical officer of Prime Healthcare. “St. Francis’ mission is especially critical during this pandemic and we honor the service of all caregivers. Prime has already started investments at St. Francis that will enhance patient care as we commit to continue every service line, community benefit program, charity care and expand new services to the community.”

 

 

 

What to expect as Kaiser’s 4,000 behavioral health workers launch 5-day strike statewide

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https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article238378533.html

Image result for What to expect as Kaiser’s 4,000 behavioral health workers launch 5-day strike statewide

Kaiser Permanente’s behavioral health clinicians will be picketing Monday outside the health care giant’s Sacramento Medical Center on Morse Avenue, joining in a weeklong labor strike that will affect services at more than 100 facilities around California.

Roughly 4,000 psychologists, psychiatric nurses and other behavioral health workers — members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers — say they want the company to shorten wait times for return appointments and reduce therapist caseloads.

“I know of nowhere else but in the Kaiser system that there is literally no definition of a caseload or maximum number of patients for which one is responsible,” said Susan Whitney, a Kaiser therapist in Kern County. “There are about 35 therapists and social workers that serve Kaiser’s Kern County population of 109,000 members, only one mental health worker for every 3,000 members. In contrast, Kaiser primary care physicians have a panel, or caseload, of 1,500 patients, and also have staff such as nurses and medical assistants that support them.”

Kaiser executive Michelle J. Gaskill-Hames said that proposals made to the union would keep Kaiser therapists among the highest paid in California, with excellent benefits, as well as offering them more time in their schedules for patient appointments and to take care of administrative tasks. Rather than strike, she said, the company has asked the union’s leadership continue to work with a mediator and Kaiser Permanente.

“Like every other health care provider, we are seeing a significant demand for mental health care in the face of a national shortage of qualified professionals,” said Gaskill-Hames, Kaiser’s senior vice president for Northern California hospital and health plan operations. “Despite this shortage, we have hired nearly 500 new therapists in California this year alone.”

The clinicians had initially planned the strike for mid-November but postponed it out of respect for the family of the late Kaiser CEO Bernard Tyson, who died unexpectedly last month.

WHAT UNION MEMBERS HAD TO SAY

The strike is to compel Kaiser to make mental health care as much of a priority as physical health care, Whitney said. Treating mental health issues also improves physical health, she said, as numerous studies have shown.

Since Kaiser was fined several years ago for lengthy waits for first appointments, the company has worked under state supervision to improve its performance in this area, Whitney said, but as it has improved in that metric, return appointments have become more difficult to schedule.

Vicki Hoskins, a therapist in Orange County, said that if a patient completed an intake appointment today and wanted to return to see her, that patient would have to wait until March. There is a backlog of vacant positions in some offices, she said, so new hires are often filling those rather than adding to the workforce.

WHAT KAISER LEADERS HAD TO SAY

Kaiser has been jointly working with an external mediator to help reach a collective bargaining agreement with the union, Gaskill-Hames said.

She said the mediator recently delivered a proposed compromise to both sides, but the union has rejected it and announced plans to strike instead of working through the mediated process.

This is union’s sixth noticed strike within a single year, and the repeated call for short strikes is disruptive to patient access, operational care and service, said Gaskill-Hames, who described the union’s action as irresponsible.

A strike puts patients in the middle of bargaining, which is not fair to them, especially during the holidays when rates of depression can spike, she said.

HOW WILL THE STRIKE AFFECT PATIENTS?

Kaiser Permanente will try to minimize patient disruption, Gaskill-Hames said, but the company may be forced to reschedule appointments and devote resources from elsewhere in the organization to address the continuity of care.

WHEN AND WHERE WILL PICKETS BE PROTESTING?

In the Sacramento area, pickets will be out from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kaiser’s Sacramento Medical Center, 2025 Morse Ave., on Monday; at the Roseville Medical Center, 1600 Eureka Road, on Wednesday; and at the South Sacramento Medical Center, 6600 Bruceville Road, on Friday. On Thursday, they will rally at the State Capitol at 10th and L streets at 10:30 a.m. and at the Department of Managed Health Care, 990 Ninth St., at 11:30 a.m. Elsewhere in the Central Valley, pickets will be at Fresno Medical Center, 7300 N. Fresno St., Monday through Friday.