An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and other front-line Kaiser Permanente health care workers will return to work on Tuesday after a four-week strike in California and Hawaii to demand better wages and staffing. The union said in a statement Monday that "significant movement at the bargaining table" prompted an end to the walkout. There are no details about what progress was made during negotiations or what a potential deal might look like. Kaiser Permanente officials didn't immediately comment on the union's announcement.
Some 6,000 public schoolteachers in San Francisco have gone on strike for the first time in nearly 50 years. They are demanding higher wages, better health benefits and more resources for special needs students. The San Francisco Unified School District closed all 120 of its schools Monday and offered independent study to some of the district's 50,000 students. The union is asking for a 9% raise over two years. The district is facing a $100 million deficit and countered with a 6% increase over three years. Negotiations have been ongoing for nearly a year without reaching a new contract.
More than 2,400 Kaiser Permanente psychologists, therapists, social workers and other mental health workers in Southern California have begun an open-ended strike over increased workloads and staffing shortages. The workers' union say the increases have created a "substandard" system of care. The National Union of Healthcare Workers is negotiating a new contract with the Oakland-based health giant. It says the strikers demand Kaiser hire more people to ease the burden put on the current staff. Kaiser says Monday that the union has been "slow-walking" negotiations, despite the strong proposals the health care company has put on the table. Picket lines are up in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
