More than 2,400 Kaiser Permanente mental health care workers in Southern California began a strike this morning and established picket lines at locations from Los Angeles to San Diego, marking the second strike among Kaiser therapists in a little more than two years.
Mental health workers represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers prepared for the strike over the weekend after declining Kaiser’s terms on Friday.
Kaiser in a written statement said it is notifying patients whose appointments could be affected by the strike. “Patients will have the opportunity to be seen by another professional in our extensive network of highly qualified, licensed therapists, if their regular provider is engaged in a strike,” the statement read.
The previous strike in 2022 among mental health clinicians in Northern California lasted 10 weeks and led to a commitment from Kaiser to hire more therapists and to give employees specific work hours away from face-to-face patient care.
Southern California Kaiser workers now are asking for more time in between appointments to prepare for patients. They also want a wage increase and a pension benefit that the company provides to its Northern California clinicians.
“It’s pretty simple,” said psychological social worker William Johnson, a union steward who serves on the bargaining committee. “We’re looking for the same three top priorities that Kaiser already said ‘Yes’ to for our Northern California mental healthcare workers.”
Johnson said his current workload includes seeing 32 to 35 patients a week in one-hour sessions.
Kaiser released a statement in response to the union’s plans to strike, saying, “unfortunately this comes as no surprise, as this seems to have been their intention all…
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