Striking Kaiser Permanente workers march in front of the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center on Oct. 4. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThe tentative deal averts another strike by Kaiser workers; their three-day work stoppage earlier this month was the largest ever in the U.S. health-care industry.: About 75,000 employees at one of the nation's leading nonprofit health care systems went on strike from Oct. 4-6.
The strike included professionals across fields, including nurses, radiologists, ultrasound sonographers, home health aides and pharmacists. The union coalition said earlier this month it would only accept a "unified" wage across all of Kaiser's regions, which includes eight states and Washington, D.C.The coalition was seeking protections against a widespread staffing shortage that it said creates unsafe conditions for patients.
The staffing levels "can lead to dangerously long wait times, mistaken diagnosis, and neglect," the coalition said in an earlier statement.The Kaiser Permanente work stoppage was one of many strikes this summer and fall that underscoredShare on facebook